One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Director: Milos Forman Run Time: 133 min. Format: DCP Rating: R Release Year: 1975
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, Will Sampson, Sydney Lassick, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif, William Redfield
Everything is borderline in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Based on the book of the same, the story centers around the arrival of Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) at the Oregon State Hospital who, after a slew of disobedient acts including a statutory rape conviction, has been transferred from prison for a mental evaluation. Self-righteous in his defiance against authority and so certain about his sanity, McMurphy rallies with his fellow patients to break beyond and challenge the normal routine. However, he soon discovers that his search for freedom is not shared by all and that some find necessary comfort within the institutional walls. Haskell Wexler’s cinematography compounds our feeling of overwhelming expansiveness and claustrophobic interiors as we question what madness looks like.