I remember senior year of high school reading this book, &  later watching the film, feeling entranced, disgusted, &  at times confused.  24 months later, it was on my mind again as I was sitting in the head of the Psychology Department’s office asking for her signature on my major declaration card. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is one of my favorite movies, not only because of its content, but because of the artful ways in which it was filmed.  Seeing this movie on the list Jim Groom sent us –  AFI’s list of the 100 Best movies of all time – reinforced my decision that it would be an appropriate movie to analyze for this assignment.

Roger Ebert’s “How to Read a Movie”, had a lot of good points.  He mentioned that it is helpful although not necessary to have some background information on the film, such as info about the director and the context of the film.  Here are links to Milos Forman’s IMDB and the movie itself, in case you were curious.

The genre of the film is drama and a tragedy.  When I looked at the list of drama tropes, I found “ A tragedy of impulsiveness” to be a somewhat good trope for this film.  The struggles illustrated in this film with the poor living conditions in mental institutions, the loss of freedoms and rights, the forced medication and treatment all make this film a drama.  There are many comedic characteristics as well, with the rebellious behavior of McMurphy, which are at times very funny.  His actions attempt to change the mood in the hospital and to lighten the spirits of the other patients.  He forms relationships with those suffering from mental illness, although he himself does not appear to be “crazy.”  He is in the hospital because of his plea of insanity, done to avoid prison time.  His criminal history and over-the-top behaviors in the film are what suggest that this is a “tragedy of impulsiveness.”  McMurphy is in a lot of ways a hero, in that he treats the patients with more respect and more humanity than the staff in the hospital do.  This impulsive behavior that in so many ways mocks and disrespects the staff is what gets him in trouble in the end, as they choose to give him a lobotomy, practically ending his life.  It is avoidable, and unavoidable.  He did not have to be in the sort of “war” he was in with the employees, but at the same time he did, as this made him the hero.

Visuals

The overall use of colors (more specifically lack of colors) plays a large roll in setting the mood for this movie, in my opinion.  There is so much white, off-white, black, and neutral tones which creates a feeling of being in a hospital, but a sort of dirty and unkep hospital, which is parallel to the way hospitals were at that time (many were neglected).   The sky is so often gray, and there are not bold or vivid colors are not used often.

I liked Ebert’s explanation, which I will refer to later in this post:

“A person located somewhat to the right of center will seem ideally placed.  A person to the right of that position will seem more positive; to the left, more negative. A centered person will seem objectified, like a mug shot. I call that position somewhat to the right of center the “strong axis.”

I found the “democracy in the dark” approach very useful, especially when looking at the composition of different scenes.  Here is an example:

This is in the beginning of the movie, when McMurphy is entering the hospital. There's a black-white-white pattern in the clothing of the people in this shot. Also sort of demonstrates the "golden ration," in that there are three in the pattern. Jack (or McMurphy) stands out in his dark attire which contrasts the almost white background. He is also located to the right of the center of the screen, which is an ideal location.

Here is a clip (embedding was disabled “by request” ) that shows beautiful symmetry, and the positioning of all the actors is central.  This is significant in that McMurphy is about to get electroshock therapy, and as Robert Ebert said in the essay, “A centered person will seem objectified, like a mug shot,” and “symmetrical compositions seem at rest.”  McMurphy is about to undergo electroshock therapy against this will, and I think this central positioning is very appropriate as it is sort of degrading to his character.  The static is ironic because he is literally being held down.  He cannot move for the electric shock, so he is in a way being forced to remain still, and this combination of positioned in the center of the screen and symmetry of the shot is parallel to the context at that moment.

This scene was also not able to be embedded, but it is also an important scene in the movie.  McMurphy has just returned from his electric shock therapy.  Negative movement is occurring here, as McMurphy is moving the left nearly the entire time.   He enters the room and moves to the left like a zombie, frightening the other patients at first before he surprises them.  He continues to move to the left while he finds a chair and enters the circle for group therapy.  He has just undergone invasive treatment as a punishment, he is still in the hospital, and although he tries to seem resilient, it’s suggested that he is beginning to feel exhausted.

Acting

We talked about this movie in one of my classes this semester, and I was blown away by what my professor said.  He mentioned that there were actual patients from mental hospitals used as extras in this film and real doctors were used in certain scenes, as well.  To me, this sort of takes the film to the next level of being true to the setting it is trying to portray.  The other crazy thing my professor said was in reference to a scene where McMurphy is getting electric shock therapy, which induces a seizure.  My professor said that he heard Jack Nicholson actually had the doctor give him the electric shock therapy, and that the “acted out” seizure appeared to be a real seizure that would naturally happen after the treatment was administered.  If this is in fact true, I would have to give Nicholson credit for getting so into the role.

Audio

This is a clip of the end.  It has a lot of really nice things going on both visually, but especially with the music.  McMurphy had just had a lobotomy and Chief (a friend of McMurphy’s from the institution) sees him lying in his bed, in a vegetable- like state.  McMurphy has been defeated, he has lost his fire, and the Chief suffocates McMurphy with his pillow.  I think he does this out of respect for McMurphy, as the man laying lifeless on the table is not who McMurphy really is.   He has nothing left, and Chief doesn’t want to see him like that, and he doesn’t want the other patients to see him like this either.  What’s great is the music.  It is so appropriate for what is going on, it sets the mood and it gives you chills.  There is a slow build up, it slowly gets louder and corresponds with the Chief’s escape.  It gives you both a feeling of being slightly disturbed as you just watch a man struggle for his life and the “creepy” sound in the music, but it also gives you a feeling of victory and “bitter sweet” when you see the Chief escape.  The music does a complete change at a perfect time going from the eery sounds and disturbing events to the sound of freedom and triumph, and then a slight feeling of uneasiness when the inmate screams at the end. I think it goes perfectly.

I love what Ebert says in the essay, here:

He introduced me to the concept that visual compositions have “intrinsic weighting.” By that I believe he means that certain areas of the available visual space have tendencies to stir emotional or aesthetic reactions.