Existence is defiance ... Thinking is subversion ... "One Flew" is inspiration ...

Rating: 10/10 (6 March 2011)

Looking at the gray screen, R.P. Mc Murphy comments an imaginary baseball game with such enthusiasm the images seem to come alive. All the inmates of the Mental Institution are laughing, cheering and shouting, while the head administrative Nurse, Mildred Ratched, asks for silence. But for one brief instant, they're free, and this freedom, as illusory as it is, has never been so palpable, it was freedom to challenge the authority, to transcend the limits of a blanked out TV set this short but powerful moment perfectly illustrates the philosophy of Milos Forman's masterpiece "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". One of the all-time greatest films and most inspiring invitations to rebel against the tyranny of establishment.
In fact, the greatness of the film exceeds the context of the story, but I think what makes it so impacting is the presence of a clear antagonism through the interactions between two polar opposite sides of human nature : order and rebellion. Order is represented by one of the most iconic and despicable cinematic villains ever: Nurse Ratched, perfectly portrayed by Louise Fletcher. A woman, whose soft voice, cold eyes, and passive aggressive attitude is the incarnation of the cold tyranny of rules, as sterile and unproductive as they are. Doesn't this ring a bell? You know, where every thing must go the way it has always been, for no other reason than that the opposite reality would be dangerous. What deviates, what is different disturbs and must be brought back to the road, or eliminated. Fascism? Not so far. Anyway, this tyranny does have a castrating effect on the inmates, all males. And the liberation will come from the protagonist, R.P. Mc Murphy, Jack Nicholson at the peak of his career, playing his most inspiring and unforgettable role. McMurphy as the character who best defines Nicholson.
McMurphy, with his inseparable beanie, malicious eyes, pornographic cards and foul-mouthed (body) language, is not just the hero of the film, he's also a tragic icon of New Hollywood, a wave that provided one of the greatest films of history. Almost a Christ-figure, this is a man who will sacrifice many opportunities to be free, in order to free other inmates from an unfair perception. From the dictatorship of a society that treats them as outcasts, as people who deserve to be domesticated, to repress their nature, if they want to become or to be considered as normal. This is the ultimate freedom, the one of the spirit, almost Nietschian: to accept yourself instead of trying to be accepted by society, and screw society if she labels you as crazy. It's your freedom of thought and any form of thought is subversive. This defiance is taught by McMurphy as soon as he enters the lives of this world made of weird faces, funny attitudes, and unpredictable reactions, after discovering the masquerade. They are this way, because they're asked to follow some rules whose only purpose is to give a pseudo meaning to their lives, because life is supposed to be guided, to be punctuated with rituals and cycles, it's the lobotomizing effect of routine: medication time, music, exercises, the so-called therapy where they have to share their problems, highlighting the true sadistic behavior of the Nurse. They don't even realize how alienated they are, and how this monotony will never solve anything but just keep them away from the rest of the world, maintaining a normality in microcosm.
McMurphy breaks this routine, making Nurse Ratched his enemy. His free-spiritedness grows on the inmates who start talking, raising their hands, challenging the power: the ultimate rebellious attitude. And another strength of the film is the ambiguity of McMurphy's character who might as well be perceived as a rebel who just want to make a mess, while Ratched is the one who tries to maintain some order. Those who label Ratched as fascist will probably face the pro-Ratched who'll consider McMurphy as an anarchist. But this is an intellectual debate while the movie deserves to be taken on a more emotional level to understand how Ratched is the true villain of the film. Her irresponsible sadistic behavior will provoke one of the saddest cinematic death, not because she deliberately wanted to kill but she was so coldly heartless, she didn't find another way to assess her power. She obviously regretted the act when it was too late, but she pushed the level of respect and obedience to the extreme, twisting the concept of order into dictatorship.
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is not about who's crazy or who's not, after all, before the fishing scene, didn't the inmates ironically look like doctors, especially the famous Dr. Scanlon? It's about resurrection of repressed personalities, through playing poker, basket-ball, fishing, drinking, having fun, becoming ourselves, by refusing to be passive and to be the actors of our own lives. The film is driven by a wonderful supporting cast, probably the most memorable non big-star supporting cast where each character is authentic in his own way, Cheswick, Sefelt, Scanlon, Harding and the tender, fragile and suicidal, Billy Bibbit  and of course, the Chief, who like us, is the witness of this dramedy. The Chief, whose growing friendship with McMurphy will lead to one of the most heartbreaking and noblest gestures, the most inspiring movie ending, sublimated by the scream of Christopher Lloyd as Taber.
A sad ending foreseen by McMurphy in this unforgettable long close-up during the party scene, McMurphy probably figuring that this will end badly, that there's something so rotten in this world, it's better to enjoy the present without caring about tomorrow, the meaning of this close-up remains a mystery, even if the next scene brings some answer. But men like McMurphy are indispensable to prevent order from becoming an alienating force. And instead of being lobotomized by the obsessional psychological tyranny of being normal, anyone should be able to flee over his own cuckoo's nest.