Foyle Film Festival: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Foyle Film Festival presents the Jack Nicholson classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).
One of only three films to ever win all five major Oscars® (presented in a brand-new 4K restoration), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted from Ken Kesey’s novel, centres on Randle McMurphy (Nicholson), a convict who simulates mental illness in the hope that a transfer to psychiatric hospital might ensure his early release.
But he hasn’t bargained for the rigid regimen of Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher, also superb), who dislikes his disruptive — though he’d say liberating — effect on the ward.
Jack Nicholson’s miraculous performance, equal parts barnstorming energy and raw humour established McMurphy as one of cinema’s iconic characters. Inspired casting (Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and Christopher Lloyd are among the patients) and Forman’s naturalistic direction lend authenticity to the proceedings, so that the film succeeds both as an anti-authoritarian parable and as an affecting reminder of the psychiatric practices of the past.
Miloš Forman| United States | 1975 | 133 mins | 15
