StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest The movie entitled One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Forman) tells the story of a man called McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) who is brought into a closed ward in a mental asylum after committing a violent offence against a 15 year old girl…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.7% of users find it useful
Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"

Download file to see previous pages

Much of the film revolves around the theme of madness, and the harmful influence that institutions can bring to bear on vulnerable individuals. An important secondary theme is the very noticeable tension between male and female genders that runs through the plot. This tension seems to reflect the rise of feminism in the 1960s and the way it was received in American society of that time, showing how some men react with violence and hatred when they perceive a change to the patriarchal order that allows women to assume authority over men.

The first indication of this theme emerges in the initial clash of personalities between McMurphy and the head nurse Ratched (played by Louise Fletcher). The contrast between these two main characters could hardly be greater. McMurphy is tall, rather badly groomed, and wearing a dark leather jacket and informal cap, while Nurse Ratched is petite and stern, wearing a starched white uniform which is always impeccably clean and tidy. She rules the ward very strictly, and commands a team of orderlies, also dressed all in white, with formal bow ties to accentuate their official role in the clinical hospital setting.

These two actors, Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, play their roles in a fascinating mix of traditional and modern gender roles. McMurphy is loud, obnoxious and prone to violent outbursts, while Nurse Ratched is calm, and speaks quietly as women are expected to do. On the other hand, Jack Nicholson portrays some extreme emotions, and his facial expressions extend from rage and fury at one moment to pity and understanding at the next one. He does have a soft and “feminine” side but he hides it and resorts to violence instead of reasoning his way out of a situation.

Louise Fletcher uses body language to give the character of Nurse Ratched a sinister edge. She stands very erect, often with her hands placed on her hips, or clutching a clip board, and turns her head slowly from side to side as if surveying the room in a smooth, machine-like sweep. She often has a fixed and glassy stare, except for rare moments when she seems to smile at McMurphy in a condescending or even mocking way. This de-humanizes her somewhat, and though she is an attractive woman, she has an aura of evil about her.

McMurphy upsets the daily routine by objecting to the way that the television is muted, and he starts providing a commentary to the sports scene that is shown on the screen. This causes the patients to gather round and begin to join in, laughing and cheering in a display of collective joy. Until McMurphy came along, the patients, who are all male, had accepted the strict rules without question. Now that he is here, they begin to follow his anarchic spirit, and this brings all of them into a collision course with Nurse Ratched.

Most of the characters in the film are male, including a lonely and silent indigenous American who is called “the Chief” and a young man with the ridiculous name “Billy Bibbit.” The story behind each man is gradually revealed throughout the film. Billy in particular has major issues in his relationship with his mother. She is a large, loud, and very dominant person, who will not allow Billy to grow up and be a man in a normal way, but instead mocks at and terrorizes him. McMurphy, on the other hand, plays the role of elder brother to Billy, and organizes for him to have his first sexual experience.

McMurphy manages to break

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Essay”, n.d.)
Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1454199-movie-analysis
(Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo'S Nest Essay)
Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo'S Nest Essay. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1454199-movie-analysis.
“Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo'S Nest Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1454199-movie-analysis.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Movie Analysis: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest Movie Directed by Milos Forman

In the morning, nurse Ratched finds the ward in a mess with the patients sleeping all over the place after passing out from alcohol consumption.... In spite of what one would expect, Mc Murphy's charisma and energy win the respect and admiration of the patients in the ward.... one night, McMurphy organizes a party involving the patients, a couple of women and alcohol.... During the party, McMurphy notices that Billy likes one of his female friends and he asks her to sleep with him....
12 Pages (3000 words) Movie Review

The Cove Movie Review

High-definition video cameras masqueraded as rocks and sound equipment are used in the film to document myriad hunting techniques… Everything shown in the film was recorded very secretively over a course of five years.... Everything shown in the film was recorded very secretively over a course of five years.... This is because 28 May The Cove movie Review How does The Cove frame the conflict between the documentarians and the Taiji fisherman?...
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

The One I Love by Charlie McDowell

The characters are sketched, looking like human beings, but Analysis of “The one I Love” “The one I Love” was a directorial debut movie for Charlie McDowell.... 91 minutes movie “The one I Love” is a feature that is extremely confident having some fun things to talk about such as destiny and connection and also relationship and identity.... In terms of camerawork, the film has a limited bitrate, this left some of the scenes to be too soft, having a lesser shaky camera, but generally, the film looked good and was not distracting while watching (“The one I Love”)....
1 Pages (250 words) Movie Review

Analysis of Sicko Movie by Michael Moore

The author analyzes the movie "Sicko" by Michael Moore, one of the documentaries that serve to reveal the scandals in the American Health insurance systems.... A close analysis of the movie reveals that Moore addresses critical issues that need attention if the health care system is to be improved.... The movie drew numerous reactions from Americans.... For some Americans, the movie exposed what has been happening in the health care system denying the Americans the level of health care they deserve....
4 Pages (1000 words) Movie Review

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Film Review

The movie titled one flew over the Cuckoos Nest is a motion picture directed by Milos Forman is an outstanding film because the director got so many things right.... Just like the novel, the movie's setting is a mental institution and many of the characters are patients and “one flew over the Cuckoos Nest” Film and Novel Review The movie d one flew over the Cuckoos Nest is amotion picture directed by Milos Forman is an outstanding film because the director got so many things right....
1 Pages (250 words) Movie Review

Analysis and Review of Lucy the Movie

one of the captors accidentally kicks her abdomen thus releasing a large number of drugs into her systems.... This review "analysis and Review of Lucy the Movie" discusses the movie Lucy by Luc Besson.... The review focuses on the main character in the film demonstrates a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities from a nootropic drug being absorbed into her bloodstream....
4 Pages (1000 words) Movie Review

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

In the movie one flew over the cuckoo's nest, there was a definite delineation between involuntary and voluntary patients, which is in accordance with Rieghr & Clancy (2010).... Randall is perplexed at this – he, Randall, would never be there The paper "one flew over the cuckoo's nest by Milos Foreman" is a worthy example of a movie review on visual arts and film studies.... In the movie one flew over the cuckoo's nest, there was a definite delineation between involuntary and voluntary patients, which is in accordance with Rieghr & Clancy (2010)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Movie Review

Movie Analysis: Steven Soderberghs Psychos and Truffauts A Certain Tendency in French Cinema

"movie analysis: Steven Soderbergh's Psychos and Truffaut's A Certain Tendency in French Cinema" paper examines the connection between Steven Soderbergh's Psychos and Truffaut's "A Certain Tendency in French" and the relationship between Killer of the sheep and How Fiction Works.... In the novel, one of the outstanding and prominent is the look into the machinery of storytelling and asking fundamental questions.... The side effects include acting as if one is sleepy when walking and they cannot recollect what they had previously done....
8 Pages (2000 words) Movie Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us