One Flew Over....

 

I have been letting this marinate a bit in my mind, but I think I will write about it today.  

This past weekend, one of the theaters in my region had a special "50th Anniversary" showing of the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest".  I was not really "into" seeing movies much when the film first came out (my passion for movies began a bit later, I would say in 1978 and 1979.  Before that time, it was rather rare for me to see movies in the theater.  

My wife and I had watched a similar showing of "Jaws" a bit earlier in the year.  I did not see "Jaws"
 in theaters the year it came out (1975), but had seen it many times before on television and at various movie nights, etc.  It was really great seeing "Jaws" on the big-screen, though.  I very much like that movie.  

I was hoping for a similar experience with "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest".  Hell, it seemed a shoo-in as a movie I would greatly enjoy....... it......

1.  Received an Oscar for Best Picture in 1976

2.  Received an Oscar for Best Actor in 1976

3.  Received an Oscar for Best Actress in 1976

4.  Received an Oscar for Best Director in 1976

5.  Received an Oscar for Writing, Screenplay in 1976

6.  Nominated for a whole plethora of other Oscar awards in 1976

7.  It was purported to be a psychology-based film

8.  It was purported to be the "best acting" Jack Nicolson has ever performed. 

So.... when the film reached our region, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for me and for my wife (who also had never seen it) to watch this film... in all its glory... in a theatrical setting.  Both I and my wife knew "basics" about the plot, for who could not know at least a bit of the basics after hearing the film talked about and mentioned for 50 years?  We each had both seen little glimpses and snippets of video of the film over the years as well... we estimated that we had perhaps seen ~5 minutes worth of film footage prior to going to the film.  

* * * * *
If I were to grade this film now.... after viewing it, I would resoundingly give this film a grade of:

"D" 

At first, I was mildly interested in the film and its set-up.  It was set in the early-to-mid 1960s as the book the movie was based upon (by Ken Kesey) was written and published in 1962 and reflected that time frame or a few years earlier.  

But, almost immediately, I was less than enthused that the premise was that the character named "McMurphy" (Nicholson) was a "bad-boy, hoodlum" who had been convicted of statutory rape and had 5-6 prior assault convictions..... but he was trying to "game" the system by getting transferred from the penitentiary he was at to the nearby mental health hospital/asylum by pretending to be "crazy".   

The majority of the film then revolved on how McMurphy would continuously push against the rules of the hospital/asylum and to also get other patients in the setting to side with him.... and here is the key.... he did so whether it was in the best interest of the other patients or not.  Basically, MOST of the time, he just created more and more chaos.  

The "big-bad" nurse (played by Louise Fletcher) was supposed to be the horrible, negative character of the film in that she "suppressed" the patients into submission with her "taking away their freedoms" but in my viewing of the film, while she was not perfect, nor a "ray-of-sunshine" she was working to do a reasonably competent job (for the time period) with her 20 or so patients.  

In the film, a small amount of attention was given to the problematic treatment regimes of electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomies, and they were portrayed in a somewhat appropriate for today's standards, negative fashion.  BUT, that is about the only thing I can say about the "psychology" of the film.  

Most of the film was about McMurphy scheming to cause disruption and ultimately to break out of the hospital/asylum and escape.  And, this was done/accomplished in a variety of disjointed and arguably ludicrous fashions.  One time, McMurphy ended up climbing over a bar-wired fence and ultimately hijacked a bus of patients who were going "off campus" for the day... and taking them to a harbor where the group stole a large fishing boat under the guise that they each were members of the medical staff of the hospital on a fishing charter.  This trip included McMurphy picking up a friend/girlfriend/wife/lady of the evening (not really sure which or how many of the four she actually was) along the way so while the other patients of the hospital were fishing on this boat, McMurphy and his friend/girlfriend/wife/lady of the evening could copulate below deck.  

The second time, he was able to call his friend/girlfriend/wife/lady of the evening and corral her and a similarly ambiguously identified friend of hers to bring gallons of liquor and various party supplies to the asylum in order so as McMurphy could a) host a wild party with the other patients, b) cause chaos and mayhem in the hospital/asylum overnight, and c) have McMurphy escape at the end of the party.  In the process of this event, much of the hospital was destroyed inside, most all of the patients became uproariously drunk and McMurphy had one young kid patient (Billy Bibbit, played by Brad Dourif) who was sexually repressed go into a holding cell with the friend of McMurphy's friend/girlfriend/wife/lady of the evening and the young kid and this friend copulated.  Ultimately at the end of the destructive party, McMurphy had found keys to unlock a window so he could escape, but basically as he was thinking about things, he intoxicatedly fell asleep before he got out of the open window.  

The chaos and disruption that had occurred was discovered in the morning by staff, and this ultimately led McMurphy to be hauled away and given a lobotomy.  When he returned to the ward after a few weeks of recovery, a "friend" in the asylum, who happened to be Native American, "saw" that McMurphy was no longer "there" and he decided to smother McMurphy with a pillow before the overly strong Native American fellow broke a window and escaped himself.  

* * * * *

A couple of additional dislikes:

1.  The vast majority of the acting in this film felt extremely "performative".  What I mean by this was that MOST of the characters did not seem "real" characters or people, but instead most of the actors in their roles felt and seemed very obviously ACTING.  In my opinion, this was especially true for Jack Nicholson, his friend/girlfriend/wife/lady of the evening, and Brad Dourif.

2.  The character of Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) was reasonably well acted, but she came across as more of a "Stepford Wives" sort of character, than a full-fledged medical professional.  

3.  The ROLE played by Scatman Crothers (Orderly Turkel) was so contrived and insulting that I felt quite sorry that this actor took the role.  

4.  The incredibly stereotypical and "hocus-pocus" style mysticism portrayed surrounding the Native American character (Chief Bromdon, played by Will Sampson) was to my mind and ear, so disconcerting, over-the-top and obscene that it left an even more bitter aftertaste in my mouth even after over all the bile I tasted during the first two hours of the two-hour and 15 minute move.  

* * * * *

A few, minor likes:

The character of Martini, played by a shockingly very, very young looking Danny DeVito.  Even though this film came out roughly only four years before DeVito was in the television show, Taxi..... in "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" DeVito, who was roughly 30 years old when the movie was made.... literally appeared to be perhaps 14 or 15 in the film.  And, to me, DeVito's character NEVER broke the 4th wall and seemed "performative".  DeVito was convincing and real in his performance.  It was perhaps the best part of the film to me.  

The character of Taber, played by Christopher Lloyd.  He two was surprisingly nuanced and believable as his character of a mental patient.  At roughly 35 years of age at the time of this film, he appeared much, much younger (perhaps in his early 20s).    

The character of Scanlon, played by the obscure actor Delos V. Smith Jr.  This character had only two spoken lines in the whole film, but his portrayal of a mental patient again (like DeVitos and ) seemed wholly real and true.   

* * * * *

So, overall, you can see I did NOT like the movie.  But, I also have to state that it stuck with me so much, that I felt a NEED to write down here what I did not like and why.  It is considered one of the "greatest" American films of all time.  I completely disagree.... but I can say it left an impression.  

I ran inside again today because of the poor air quality.  

PipeTobacco