What is your reaction to seeing the film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"?
Did you like the film?
Discuss why you feel the way you do at the blog and bring a printed copy of your comments to class.
Discuss why you feel the way you do at the blog and bring a printed copy of your comments to class.
Watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was interesting, especially since the original came out when I was 19. Certainly, the film reflects the politics of that time and the questioning of authority so common during the “hippy” era. What makes the film work for me nowadays is the superb work of the actors and the imaginative and interesting use of the camera to bring out each actor’s quirks! I felt sorry for Louise Fletcher (even though she was awarded with best actress) as she still, after all these years, made me dislike her steely, almost inhuman, resolve to follow “the schedule.” It certainly serves as a reminder to anyone in a position of authority (as I am by being a teacher) to remember how much power one has over others and how easily one can abuse that power. I’m not sure “like” is quite the right word for a film as disturbing as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; perhaps “respect” is a better word. Killing our protagonist at the end is rare in Hollywood films; having him shown to be a lobotomized robot just before makes it all the more bitter. The ability of the state and its institutions to stifle a creative, albeit out of control, character like R.P. McMurphy is still with us and, if the film serves as a reminder of that, then I hope it will live on and be watched for a long time to come. Given its status as the number 13 film on the top 250 at IMDB, perhaps it will.
ReplyDeleteThe film ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ is an interesting twist. McMurphy is a criminal. The mental hospital is restrictive. Patients are staying there by their own will. Mixture of them draws an entertaining result. ‘An ass in the lion’s skin’ Among in those patients, he is being as a king. He let them go out, fight for the rights and throws a nasty party. But there is one thing that we can’t forget. He is a serious criminal. There’s nothing we can justify it. He pretends that he care of them, but it is only for reach to his own desire after all. At first, he seems like a hero who fights against society’s absurdity, but he is a villain who destroys his surrounding indiscriminately for himself alone. McMurphy says to patients that “You are better than outsiders.” Of course they are better that them to him, because they are manipulative by some of sweet words.
ReplyDeleteThe most ironic part is that those patients are actually better than Mcmurphy, because they are staying in the hospital by their own will. They know their own problem and they are there for correct it. On the contrary, our Mcmurphy is the most problematic person in the movie. He never even knows what his issue is, and he never even feels anything from other people’s injuries and treatments. I’ve been surprised about that he could be projected as a hero in the movie even though his original identity. I think the last treatment done to him was necessary. For control a mad criminal who refuses and resists all the treatment, it was the last choice what they got at the time.
From the first to the end, McMurphy did whatever he wants and well deserved as what he did.
One Flew Over the Cuokoo's Nest
ReplyDeleteThis film has always been one of my favorites, it depicts the struggles of mental illness within society and how institutes deal or fail to deal with people struggling with life. R.P.Murphy played by Jack Nicholson ,was the ultimate test for the argument "is he insane or just out of control ?.Throughout the film Murphy interactions with the staff and the patients of the hospital kept the viewers guessing, I find that every time I watch One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, nurse Ratched becomes more of the evil stepmother type and I can't stop myself from disliking here more than before. Although the film had a slow and somber rhythm the antics of Murphy and his motley crew, brought just the rite enthusiasm to make this movie worth watching over and over again.