Day 1: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest : 1975: Winner of the 48^th Academy Awards 1976

Starring:

Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy

Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched

William Redfield as Dale Harding

Will Sampson as "Chief" Bromden

Brad Dourif as Billy Bibbit

Sydney Lassick as Charlie Cheswick

Danny DeVito as Martini

Christopher Lloyd as Max Taber

Dean R. Brooks as Dr. John Spivey

William Duell as Jim Sefelt

Vincent Schiavelli as Frederickson

Delos V. Smith as Scanlon

Michael Berryman as Ellis

Nathan George as Attendant Washington

Lan Fendors as Nurse Itsu

Mimi Sarkisian as Nurse Pilbow

Mews Small as Candy

Scatman Crothers as Orderly Turkle

Louisa Moritz as Rose

The movie is about Randall, a convicted man who is deemed deranged and mentally ill, as he tries to free himself and the other patients from the authoritarian rule of the bitchy evil head nurse. In the process he forms a bond and friendship with “Chief” a man who is deaf and dumb therefore mute. He tries to break all the prisoners free but his last romp and subsequent desire to flee go wrong and he gets punished for it. In the end however through his act of courage he inspires “Chief” to be as “big as a mountain” and he is free.

Ok, so I skipped a lot of the plot but trust me when I say there is no better way of watching a movie than not knowing what is going to happen. I had had this movie on my Netflix queue for a while now and never really wanted to watch it, even when my wifey said it was the shits. However now that I did I don’t regret it at all. It was everything I thought it would be and more. I was really sad when one of the prisoner’s comes back with a lobotomy, and it got me thinking that the human race is really cruel. Not like I didn’t know, it was just something else to see it captured on camera. I was so tearing up and in the end I was rooting for Chief to be free! Be free! I can now understand why it won an Oscar. It was a depiction of the institutionalization of the deranged and how unfairly they were mistreated. Very good film!

It also won awards for :

Best Director : Miloš Forman

Best Leading Actor: Jack Nichoson (does crazy good)

Best Leading  Actress: Louise Fletcher  (does angry bitch good)

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)