Come in...

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2008)

Come in and watch, please come in and seeIt starts with a long still shot of a landscape. The most eccentric characters are present in this ward; a place, though another possible character in Milos Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", a film about what Harding (William Redfield) describes accurately in one of many passionate scenes: interpersonal relationships.
It's a beautiful piece, with inspiring dialogs, well constructed sequences, peaceful and nerve- wracking moments, daunting images, brilliant performances. The beloved Czech director doesn't leave any emotion out of the table and risks it all on a film (and here comes one of my fixations as a writer and one that in cases like these is impossible to avoid) as real as you and me.
Real as reality, as Ken Kesey's (the writer of the novel the film's based on) experience when he worked at a hospital with mentally ill people. It's clear that, besides the writer's true point of view (I haven't read the novel but sometimes it gets lost in the making of a film) and a highly disturbing ending, Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman's (the latter one wrote the script of "Scent of a woman") adaptation is a very delicate work.
There's a model scene, one that's repeated several times throughout the film. It involves Mildred Radchet (Louise Fletcher and her fantastic cold look), the nurse in charge of the mentioned 'ward', discussing the patients' personal problems in a group. Every one of these group scenes, measured by masterful quick close-ups (that are part of the whole film but work strongly here) ultimately leads up to a mess, which involves shouting and fighting that is not fighting but more like constant complaint.
In films like these, I like to stay with my first impression; but if you really want to analyze Forman's complex movie, you should watch it several times and choose a character each time to pay attention to. Without taking it too far, you have Mc Murphy (Jack Nicholson, crazier than ever in a time where he was more natural), the movie's natural main character that, at times, seems just another character of the cast; a secondary player.
This happens because the rest of the patients are very interesting and unpredictable. Take the insistent Martini (an unrecognizable Danny de Vito), or the silent gambler Taber (an unrecognizable Christopher Lloyd), or the rebellious Cheswick (Sidney Lassick), or Billy (Brad Dourif), who in one scene shows a major demonstration of courage and instantly becomes a coward again;or Will Sampson's silent Chief Bromden.
Talking about it, silence is an important part of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; something that the characters seem to appreciate, therefore we respect it too. Whenever the music comes in, it's because something's not right, in any perspective. Because music may play in a cheerful moment for this patients, but at the same time it's making someone else's day worse. The same goes for the mood of the film. At times, the patients are so funny that we laugh out loud; but what makes us laugh gets other people's nerves. On the other side, there are moments were we feel like crying because the reality of the film is truly devastating and we realize that maybe we hadn't noticed yet. However, what makes us feel sad, is what others feel it's the right thing to do.
There are many characters I didn't describe and I missed characteristics of the ones I did, but I'm no psychiatrist and I don't know so much about personality. But if I could give an opinion (one of those we express when we watch a movie even when we know that's not going to change), I'd say that I don't think nurses are doing a fine job here. You watch and tell me what you think.
But come in and watch, please come in and seeIt ends with a long still shot of a landscape. Have you ever really felt complete freedom?