This has to be the classic film of all time. A film that scooped 5 Academy Awards, 5 Golden Globes, and an array of awards from the British Academy Awards. An excellent drama that I could watch over and over again! Even now, it has me adding the word ’chief’ when telling my son to put his rubbish in the basket! This part of the film is where Jack Nicholson is teaching ’Chief’ how to play basketball and is shouting ’’Just put it in the basket Chief’’.
Written as a book in 1962, by best selling author Ken Kesey, it took 13 years before the film was eventually made, thanks to the actor Michael Douglas. I shan’t tell you how it came about because that is all on the DVD.
This film is about Randle Patrick McMurphy, played by Jack Nicholson, trying to fool the prison system into thinking he is insane, so that he can be put into a mental institution and get released quicker. This actually backfire’s on him as he finds out that they can keep him there indefinitely. He befriends the inmates and we learn why they are there and he tries to rub the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher, up the wrong way, by constantly trying to change the way things are done on the ward.
Fletcher plays this part with such excellence that you could think it was her real job. Very stern, runs everything by the rules, you will just love to hate her.
McMurphy is an avid baseball fan and tries to get them all involved into watching the world series. Ratched insists that a vote must be done by the patients.
When McMurphy thinks he has a land slide, he is horrified when Ratched tells him that the votes of the chronic patients must also be included.
The story line is great, very funny, and sometimes sad (especially the end), and the highlight has to be where McMurphy hijacks the institute’s bus and takes the inmates on a fishing trip!
Some of the other characters include:
Charlie Cheswick, played by Sydney Lessick. One of my favourite characters, always funny, even when he is angry. I actually named one of my cats after him. Cheswick is a voluntary patient.
Harding, Played by William Redfield, who sadly died a year after the film was released. He is a more serious character that McMurphy loves to wind up, as do the other patients, especially Taber. Harding is also a voluntary patient.
Taber, Christopher Lloyd’s first part. With his shaven head, he really does look like he belongs here. A very funny character throughout the film, and another of my favourites. Taber is a committed patient.
Watch out for the cigarette in his turn ups.
Martini, played by a young Danny Devito, is a bit simple, but still a funny character. He is also a voluntary patient.
Billy Bibbet, played by Brad Dourif, is a young voluntary patient that fears his mother, as well as Nurse Ratched. He suffers from a very bad stutter, and finds it difficult to meet women.
Chief, played by Will Sampson, is a very large red Indian. He makes out that he can neither hear or speak, but watch the film and you will find out differently. He is a committed patient.
Mr. Turkle, played by Scatman Crothers, is a black, really funny nurse that works the night shift. He adds some very hilarious humour to the film (sadly now deceased).
The film is set in a real institution, and the cast spent up to 12 hours a day here. The hospital used was Oregon State Hospital, and the Superintendent, Dr. Dean Banks, gave the crew a whole ward to work with, including a few real patients!
Dr. Banks also had a real part in the film, playing Dr. Spivey.
Director Milos Foreman, who also directed Amadeus, has done an excellent job in maintaining a fly on the wall type film. You can almost believe you are there with them. No wonder he received the Oscar for Best Director.
Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
Best Actress (Jack Nicholson)
Best Picture
Best Adapted Screenplay
The DVD includes some good extras, although not that great:
Jump to Scene (33 to choose from)
Special Features -
Cast and Crew (lists the major characters and crew)
Supporting Players (a list of the supporting characters)
Memorial to Scatman Crothers (about the character that played Mr. Turkle)
A 13 Year Effort (how it took so long to get the film made)
Casting (mainly about Dr. Dean Banks)
On Location (telling us where the film was made)
Awards ( a full list of all awards won by the film)
Subtitles (English and Arabic)
Recommendations (other films they recommend you watch)
There is never a dull moment in this film, and I really do not know why it isn’t shown more on television. It’s my favourite film of all time, that’s why I brought the DVD :-)