(In)sane

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2017)

Excellent drama with some comedy. All the actors are phenomenal in their interpretations, without any flaws! McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) claims insanity to not go to jail and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. His vivacity and nonconformity spread to the ward's other patients, who are under the supervision of the oppressive and manipulative nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). The conflict of mentalities becomes inevitable, because the nurse does not admit even 'the middle ground' nor a small concession such as letting the patients see a baseball game. As the days pass, the conflict begins to escalate, and in the end, of course, reaches dramatic proportions.
This film can be analyzed by several prisms: literally for what it is, a beautiful and dramatic story very plausible and that could very well happen in reality, demonstrating well that the abuse of power is never beneficial however well intentioned. Looking more deeply, it is also one of the best allegories on the subject 'individual vs system', demonstrating that however noble the individual is in his intentions, mind and soul, always ends up under the yoke of the tyranny of the system. And it is clear that the system (whatever it is) is always run by despots who are often unaware of it (that they are tyrants), an inevitability of any hierarchical structure. A movie for the ages to appreciate and ponder on.