One of the greatest movies and life lessons of all time

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2007)

Not many movies have won the "big five" in the academy awards. It's enough to win just best picture for a lot of movies. This movie portrays every film element to the highest degree, from the beautiful panoramic shots of the mountains outside of the mental institution to the story of ultimate redemption McMurphy and Chief find at the end.
The movie is seen through the eyes of Randle McMurphy (Nicholson). He is sent to the mental institution because he would rather be considered "insane" and live in "luxury" other than being a jailbird in prison. Once he gets into the actual living area where the insane are, he looks up at this tall, native looking man they call "Chief". McMurphy's initial reaction to Chief was his little Indian dance he did to mock him, but once Chief didn't react McMurphy asked him if he played football and says to chief, "God damn, boy, you're as big as a mountain." Little by little, you could see their friendship start to unfold out throughout the movie.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the title "villain" would definitely belong to Nurse Ratched. She gave threats to the patients, she was even friends with one of the patient's (Billy) mom. She also tries to toy with McMurphy's mind by trying to get him to conform with the customs of mental facility. It doesn't work out for her as planned. Including a classic scene where Nurse Ratched's threats cause little Billy to commit suicide. In rage, McMurphy has seen enough and actually chokes her out. This causes McMurphy to go through a lobotomy and become a vegetable at his stay at the clinic.
I know many people probably disagree with this but, I think Chief killing McMurphy at the end was beautiful as much as it was heartbreaking. It symbolized that McMurphy, still had a chance to redeem himself and become a hero, even if it were death. It also gave Chief clearance to finally "escape" the premises and "fly from the cuckoo's nest", and how he did it at the end was classic. That's what makes this movie one of the greatest of all time, not only because of the sensational acting and the sociological significance, but because of the message and symbolism of the story.
The directing by Milos Foreman was phenomenal, not only with the memorable acting by Jack Nicholson, but with the camera shots he used in certain scenes. For example, the scene before McMurphy was about to get electro-shock therapy they show a very close up angle of him to show the intensity and crowdedness he had to go through while getting the shock treatment. Nicholson also makes it pretty believable that he is actually getting shocked, by making "gurgling" noises and such.
They actually go back to the "lying down" closed angle shot at the end of the movie when Nicholson passes away. I thought it was very brave of the director to keep that long shot of McMurphy's dead self, because by making it last as though it were a still shot, to me it seemed more and more believable that McMurphy was actually dead. I don't know how Nicholson just lied there stiff as a board. I know he may have won his Oscar because of his heroic and charismatic character, but how he dealt with himself in those two scenes is what tickles my fancy.
The ideology of this film is, in my opinion, what makes it one of the greatest of all time. The story brings up the question of who's actually the insane; McMurphy and his patients, or Nurse Ratched and the staff? Clinically, McMurphy was not insane. Even the doctors and professors stated that, but since he didn't follow the norms and the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched, he had to stay at the sanitarium longer. I also loved the allusion of Chief, by acting deaf and dumb. He played the omniscient or "god-like" role of hearing and seeing everything, yet not saying anything himself. It almost seems as he was the narrating the story until he befriended McMurphy.
I don't know if I could think of a more evil villain in a movie other than Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). The evil looks she gave to her patients when they were doing something wrong was as cold-hearted as one could get. Also her audacity to tell Billy's mother about his sexual deviance is as sinister as you can get. She knew that it would hurt Billy deeply, which was a major reason he was "insane" is because of his relationship with his mother. He eventually killed himself, angering McMurphy.
I never thought I would cheer out loud when a grown man was choking out a little woman, but I did here. This scene did a fantastic job of not making it taboo, but making you want her dead even more. This did change Nurse Ratched however, it made her a little nicer to the patients at the end and made her realize that if she abuses her power as a nurse, it can come back to haunt her.
The meaning of this story is wonderful and helped Jack Nicholson set the bar for acting. The symbolism of Chief's and McMurphy's redemption serves as a corner stone for many many movies today. Whether it be the costumes of the patients, the crazy acting, or even the beautiful classic shot at the end of the movie where Chief runs out to freedom; This movie will never be forgotten. And it serves as a good lesson for everyone out there who feels left out can all come together and get freedom. I advise anybody who says they love movies to watch this film, because it will not only change your views, it will change your life and you can't say that about a lot of movies.