Picture 48: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

1975 brings a classic to the table. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest places an impressive 18th on IMDb’s Top 250 movies. Milos Forman’s adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel grossed 37 times its humble budget and is only the second film to win all five major Academy Awards. An exciting billing but can it live up to it nearly half a century after its release?

Jack Nicholson joins the process, portraying Randle McMurphy. Randle is a convicted felon who feigns mental illness so he can stay in a mental hospital rather than do hard labour for his crimes. This deceit leads him to a stay on an inpatient psychiatric ward despite being relatively sane, at least initially. He has an eye-opening experience. Most of the patients are voluntary and the line between madness and sanity seems to become ever finer. Randle finds himself advocating for the patients in a way that perturbs the institution, particularly Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Fletcher gives a generational performance as Ratched whose evil is excellently subtle.

This picture asks important questions whilst maintaining a compelling dynamic throughout. It is blessed with a stellar cast that also includes Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and Back to the Future's Christopher Lloyd. Cuckoo's Nest rightly finds itself in the upper echelons of this list. It is a damning indictment on the efficacy of psychiatric institutions and no doubt played its role in shifting mental health care into the community from the 1980s onwards.

Rating: 9/10

Reflections:

1.     Madness is a social construct.

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. The Godfather (1972)

2. Casablanca (1943)

3. The Apartment (1960)

4. Rebecca (1940)

5. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

6. The Sound of Music (1965)

7. A Man for All Seasons (1966)

8. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

9. Ben-Hur (1959)

10. Lost Weekend (1945)

11. All About Eve (1950)

12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

13. Hamlet (1948)

14. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

15. Gone With the Wind (1939)

16. West Side Story (1961)

17. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

18. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

19. Wings (1928)

20. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

21. You can’t take it with you (1938)

22. Patton (1970)

23. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

24. On the Waterfront (1954)

25. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

26. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

27. Marty (1955)

28. Oliver! (1968)

29. Cimarron (1931)

30. Grand Hotel (1932)

31. The French Connection (1971)

32. An American in Paris (1951)

33. From Here to Eternity (1953)

34. It Happened One Night (1934)

35. My Fair Lady (1964)

36. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

37. Cavalcade (1933)

38. The Sting (1973)

39. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

40. Going My Way (1944)

41. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

42. All the King’s Men (1949)

43. In the Heat of the Night (1967)

44. Gigi (1958)

45. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

46. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

47. The Broadway Melody (1929)

48. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield

Dr Caspar Briault

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Josh Fisher

Mr Vivian Gallaher

Mrs Clare Gallaher

Dr Adam Holland

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia