One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1973)

Add One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to the list of greatest movies ever. Much like The Sixth Sense and Fight Club, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a mind-blowing experience.

Incredible performances from Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Will Sampson are at the center of this masterpiece. In what is essentially a film about the oppression of individualism, there are several other storylines that involve supporting characters that solidify themes of repression, careless optimism, redemption, and friendship.

Nicholson stars as R.P. McMurphy, who in an attempt to get out of a prison sentence, pleads insanity and gets sentenced to a mental institution. McMurphy’s belief that a sentence carried out in the asylum will be easier than prison. It’s not long before the McMurphy is butting heads with the institution’s wards and the iron-fisted head nurse Ratched. His defiance and optimism finds him continually at odds with Ratched much to the entertainment of his fellow patients.

Culminating to a dramatic bittersweet victory, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a convincing story of human emotion like no other. Every element of this film builds upon the next to create a production worthy of praise. Director Milos Forman exacting formula creates a cold feeling of isolation, despair, and hopelessness amid Nicholson’s hapless optimism.

The screenplay is top-notch. The cast of supporting characters—all patients of the ward—add unbelievable subtle nuances. Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit, a mentally challenged stutterer, Danny DeVito as the slow and harmless Martini, Christopher Lloyd play Taber, a voluntarily institutionalized man—why, we’re just no sure. Then there’s Chief, a tall Indian man who the others call ‘deaf and dumb’ played exquisitely by Will Sampson. All of these performances are multi-faceted and beautifully executed.

Finally, there’s Nurse Ratched, perhaps the most evil villainess known to cinema. With one cold stare, one even-handed comment, she can stunt the most collected of men. Her cold, calculated ways are the things nightmares are made of.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a stunning piece of cinematic achievement. Exceptional at every angle, this film is must-see. I cannot think of a more thought-provoking, riveting film that is so ugly and so beautiful even now.