One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Ah, Juicy Fruit...
THE SUMMARY: A tricky convict manipulates his way from a work farm to a mental institution and inspires new life in the residents, only to lose his own in a battle with an overbearing nurse in the film adaptation of the novel by the same name. A slow start and a solid ending even out to a movie I’d recommend, though not enthusiastically, but another one I appreciate more in retrospect than I did during the watch.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER MICHAEL: A favorite of the anti-establishment liberals in 1975. Cuckoo's Nest, in these modern times, may be one of the best BASED films out there. The hero McMurphy should be an inspiration to those on the right.
Just a bunch of doctors going on a fishing trip - nothing to see here.
You don’t have the guts to walk out?!
THE BEST:
The mentally ill can easily pass for doctors: In a moment so subtle I’m not even sure it was intentional, it was hilarious that all the mental patients easily passed for ‘doctors’ when they were caught stealing the fishing boat. One, because simply claiming the title ‘doctor’ is a license to do whatever you want, as we’ve seen cause so many problems over the last two years, but two, because the visual distinction between ‘doctors’ and lunatics is none. Is that a hobo or a PhD? Nobody knows. Simply give a guy the ‘doctor’ title, and we’ll automatically trust an actual clinically insane person.
The value of energy and optimism against the black pill: There are probably few places more black-pilling than a mental institution - no way out, no prospect at a meaningful future, just a lot of counting the days until you die, if you’re even capable of the counting at all. There’s no reason for hope, and yet, hope can be cultivated and achieved by one even crazier bastard who believes in it.
Other than his uh… statutory… rape… issue… I agree with movie-picker Michael that McMurphy is a character from whom we should all take inspiration. If you let the Nurse Ratcheds of the world win, they do. But if you push back, they’re beatable, even if it means major sacrifice for some. And even depressing struggle can be fun if you make it so. Always seek the jokes and the mischief against the tyrants.
Another note about McMurphy - taking inspiration from him doesn’t necessarily mean fighting within the system either. Hope and ‘the system’ are not the same thing. We can be happy, hopeful, and motivated at the expense of the system. As McMurphy shows, sometimes ya just gotta choke a bitch. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a bitch about it. Enjoy the moment. Have a laugh and a smile.
Commitment to commitment - the voluntary choice to imprison ourselves: Early in the movie I was confused by Harding’s character - he is perfectly coherent, no observable mental issue, so why is he in the facility? It’s then revealed he’s gay and just prefers the comfort of the institution, rather than the social and family pressure of the outside. There’s nothing compelling him to stay. He’s not imprisoned - he can leave any time he likes, but he doesn’t.
When Harding reveals his voluntary presence to McMurphy, McMurphy is shocked, and Nurse Ratched explains most of the residents are voluntary. McMurphy says ‘Jesus… you guys do nothing but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and then you haven’t got the guts just to walk out?!’
And yet McMurphy can’t escape either. He could have done it with the bus. He could have done it with the boat. He could have done it when he planned to with Chief, but he drank his way back into imprisonment instead.
There’s profound importance to this theme: there are few prisons more confining than the ones we choose for ourselves. When we quit. When we say we can’t. When we choose the comfort of mediocrity over the prospect of the world’s risks.
In a world of these options, choose Chief, not Harding.
The metaphor of the Chief: Speaking of, in a strange way, the Chief is a model to emulate. Speak softly. Be unassuming. Even disguise yourself when necessary, but be capable of great and dangerous things. You don’t have to advertise your skillset. Preparing quietly to deploy it when needed is almost always tactically advantageous.
Surely we can grant ourselves a little more talk and fun than Chief does, but the lessons of his character should not be overlooked. When it hits the fan, he’s the one who wins.
THE WORST:
It’s just too slow to start: I hate making variations of the same criticism with several of these older movies, and often I get pushback that ‘this is just how movies were at the time,’ and I’m sure there’s some truth to that. But this movie is another example of one that drags with painful slowness to start. It’s nearly an hour in before the crew finally makes their fishing escape and the best of the show begins.
I get it - for the characters to show growth and change, the depressing, pathetic origins have to be established. That is a necessity, I just think there are ways to establish that with scenes and dialogue that develop at a pace somewhere a tick quicker than a snail. Cut down on all the World Series controversy, cut down on all the basketball outside - there are plenty of ways to establish the same plot points in a faster way.
THE RATING: 3/5 Wickies. I’ve nearly talked myself into a 4, because I appreciate the morals and metaphors of the story especially as applied to today’s politics and culture, but the entertainment value was lacking for me to be completely thrilled.
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NEXT WEEK: The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
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