The treatment of people suffering from mental health issues or illnesses has a long history of inadequacies. We have long struggled with how to treat people who refuse or are unable to conform to the rules, norms and minimum standards of behaviour. You may be crazy, but as long as you are able to partake in a little behavioural self censorship then, thank goodness, you’ll not bother anyone and get along in life JUST FINE. There is a varied and often unsettling history of films that record or tell such stories. and although there are many reasons for such work it has always been clear to me that they offer up an opportunity for us to ask ourselves what makes these people so unpalatable or unsettling to the rest of us that they are in almost all cases segregated from outdoor, everyday life. Is it their unpredictability, or their inability or unwillingness to conform to our expectations of ‘rational’ behaviour? Cognitive differences along with mental health have been explored in exploitative films like ‘Freaks’ (1932- where there was a fairground element of exposing an unknown world to the general public) to sympathetic works of genius like ‘Harvey’ (1950, more the tradition of the arts of depicting ‘the fool’ as having a peculiar brand of wisdom which is beyond the rest of us- a “who is really crazy though, me or YOU?” movie- is it saner to be mad? Are we mad to be sane? The movie adaptation of Catch 22 (1970) is another example of this, the trailer for which sums this up perfectly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unn8fgs8fao “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” has both of these elements, and is possibly the best example of each. The performances instantly stand out as unique- Jack Nicholson had already shown himself to be very capable (having broken out in Easy Rider, (1969) and Five Easy Pieces (1970) but this is undoubtedly his first truly great performance. The part may not have been written for him (it was a 1962 novel), but there are times after watching when you find yourself asking the question every actor wishes would be asked after a performance: how much was McMurphy, and how much was Nicholson? Much of the action is improvised, lines were written and delivered, but not always and not necessarily the way they were written down. This gives the entire film a more realistic feel. Having come off the back of making ‘Easy Rider’ (1969) where he, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Terry Southern created a film which had not just improvised dialogue or scenes, but used real drugs on film while meandering through a somewhat improvised plot and plenty of madness to boot. Nicholson was the perfect choice for “One Flew…” Transferred from prison in the opening scene, McMurphy rarely leaves the grounds from that point onwards. Jack Nitzsche’s soundtrack, a gentle mix of classical and modern pieces with plenty of Theremin, is unnerving. It tells you to expect something different- these sounds open the movie and set you up for the ride. The film introduces the inmates and each of their predicaments and states through their interactions with McMurphy who will not settle for small talk. His need to get to the truth, however uncomfortable it makes people, whoever he might hurt along the way, is both empowering and squirm inducing. The ward where we spend most of the movie is quietly, cruelly controlled by Nurse Ratched, but she is shaken by McMurphy’s very presence. He is a shining light of justice and rebellion in the institution, causing many inmates to be revealed to be perfectly functioning in many ways, far from what Nurse Ratched would have them believe- a weak, malleable, vulnerable group that must not think for itself. For their own good, of course. We are swept up in their journey from this state to one where they (and we) might dare hope, having experienced a tantalising taste of purpose and dare I say a quest. The violence which ends this journey is shocking, and is where the crux of the power of this film lies. You might not want to be in the same room as him, or even like him all that much, but he is a character you can’t help but love. I believe this to be because there is a piece of McMurphy in all of us, the outspoken, principled rebel who takes no shit, who relentlessly bounces back after a setback and sticks it to the man at any given opportunity. Watching this film, seeing that flawed but heroic part of you is finally ‘free’ on screen is a therapeutic experience, McMurphy certainly switched something on inside of me, albeit mostly during the running time. We hold back this element of our character to varying degrees, and so we are sane. We don’t let him out of the little box he inhabits in our head, as much as we occasionally want to, because we are afraid it will compromise OUR sanity. He has a power that we are afraid of. The Nurse Ratched in our heads wins on a daily basis, preferring order and control over progress and creativity, because it is easier and we believe we will be more easily accepted in this sedated state. This film helps us question this unnatural, glory-less unnatural order, and whether you see it this way or not you will have more questions than answers after watching. Sometimes, this feeling is the very best that can come of any work of art. |
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AuthorPablo Griffiths is a man with a passion for many things. He has recently taken an interest in writing about film, and himself in the third person. |