Although the plot of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” is very sad, the movie still deserves to be considered a masterpiece. Every single scene utterly captures the attention of its viewer. McMurphy "s dubious expectations of feeling better at a psychiatric center, his accomplishment of helping one of the patients to make progress, and the wicked nurse Ratched can only make one shudder.
If this story had actually happened, what McMurphy should have rather done is behave better while in prison so he could be sent to a prison that is not so supervised. This has been done by many prisoners and it proved successful in most cases. In general, when someone goes to a psychiatric center, he usually ends up with psychiatric problems. The presence of a wicked nurse like Ratched even worsens the situation; she just appears to enjoy the sickness of the people at the hospital. In fact, she cows the patients - most of whom are there by choice and categorized as "voluntary" patients - into dejected submission.
Ratched sees McMurphy"s behavior as a personal affront and challenge to her authority and becomes obsessed with winning this contest. When McMurphy helps a patient to make progress, a substantial cheerfulness is felt by the film viewers, although Ratched purposely ruins it by discouraging him with a mere threat.
It becomes certainly sad when the patient commits suicide by slitting his throat, but one can feel some kind of relieve when McMurphy sets about choking Ratched to death. This temporary relief comes to an end when an African-American man grabs McMurphy away and Ratched survives as a result - she should have been killed. The sadness is even increased when McMurphy is given a lobotomy - a special electrical therapy that can only cause one to become like the rest of the hospital or even worse.
Although Nurse Ratched does not die, she has her vocal cords damaged from McMurphy's attack. As a result, she now has to speak through a microphone for the patients to hear her. No longer able to intimidate the patients, they are now free to think for themselves.
Chief Bromden was a muscular native American, who has been believed to be deaf and unable to speak; therefore, he was mostly ignored but also respected because of his enormous size. He became McMurphy's friend, as he also wanted to struggle against Nurse Ratched.
When Chief Bromden sees McMurphy being returned to his bed, he finds to his horror that McMurphy has been given a lobotomy. Unwilling to leave McMurphy behind, Chief Bromden suffocates his neurologically disabled friend with a pillow. Then he escapes by heroically hoisting a very heavy marble hydrotherapy fountain, which McMurphy has tried to lift earlier, and hurling it through a barred window.
All actors perform their roles very well; it looks as if they were living what they are simply acting. The high ratings this film won were definitely deserved. I saw this movie a very long time ago and I can hardly forget what I saw. This movie is a very good balance of drama, action, and horror. I do not see why it should not captivate all types of film audiences everywhere.
