After Kirk Douglas spent years trying to get a film adaptation of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest off the ground, his son Michael Douglas finally managed to get the cameras rolling. By this time, his father had grown out of the lead role of Randle McMurphy — a prisoner who’s transferred to a psychiatric hospital to avoid hard labor — so the part went to Jack Nicholson instead.
Opposite Nicholson was Louise Fletcher in the role of the villainous Nurse Ratched, who rules the hospital with an iron fist and will do whatever is necessary to break her patients’ spirits. McMurphy is a perfect protagonist, and Ratched is a perfect villain.
McMurphy: He Embodies The Anti-Establishment Tone Of ‘70s Cinema
As the New Hollywood movement took over and studios were giving rebellious young filmmakers with a cynical vision a chance to shine, ‘70s cinema became defined by an anti-establishment tone.
This tone can be seen in Taxi Driver, Dirty Harry, American Graffiti — all the decade’s biggest hits. McMurphy’s crusade against Nurse Ratched’s rule in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nestembodies the anti-establishment tone of ‘70s movies.
Ratched: Louise Fletcher Fully Commits To Her Evil
Apparently, Louise Fletcher is a lovely person in real life, but she committed so wholeheartedly to the evil of Nurse Ratched that the rest of the cast were reluctant to speak to her between takes because her ice-cold performance terrified them.
Fletcher went on to receive a much-deserved Oscar for her performance. It’s tough to land an Academy Award as a villain, but in this case, it was a no-brainer.
McMurphy: Jack Nicholson’s Performance Is Deeply Human
At the beginning of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy is introduced as a regular guy who pled insanity to get an easier sentence and finds himself in a much worse position than having to do hard labor under the rule of Nurse Ratched. Jack Nicholson’s performance in the role is deeply human.
Unsurprisingly, Nicholson joined Fletcher in winning an Oscar for his work on Cuckoo’s Nest. The movie was also awarded Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Ratched: She Believes She’s Doing What’s Best For Her Patients
When the role of Nurse Ratched came across Louise Fletcher’s desk, she tried to find one thing she could admire about the character to be able to embody her on-screen.
This proved to be difficult, obviously, but she decided that Ratched believes she’s doing what’s best for her patients. She played into this angle so she could give this monstrous character some shred of humanity.
McMurphy: He Uses Humor To Rebel Against Authority
Like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, McMurphy uses humor to rebel against the sadistic authority keeping everybody down in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Ratched is unable to truly break McMurphy’s spirit until she has him lobotomized, which causes him to finally lose his sense of humor.
Ratched: She’s Hauntingly Cold-Hearted
The most shocking thing about Nurse Ratched is her coldness. Where McMurphy is warm and kind and wants his fellow patients to have a good time, Ratched’s capacity for inhumanity is staggering.
Louise Fletcher’s portrayal of Ratched’s coldness is so effective that she just needs a stern look to be as terrifying as knife-wielding villain Michael Myers or lightsaber-wielding villain Darth Vader.
McMurphy: He Sticks Up For The Little Guy
The most admirable thing about McMurphy is that he sticks up for the little guy. All his fellow patients are powerless against Nurse Ratched’s rule, so he exercises his own power on their behalf.
McMurphy initially gets himself transferred to Ratched’s psychiatric facility to avoid hard labor, but he ends up becoming a voice for the voiceless.
Ratched: She’s A Tyrant
Although nurse is her job title, Mildred Ratched is something much more sinister than a nurse: she’s a tyrant. She runs her psychiatric hospital like she’s a dictator, ruling with an iron fist.
From her use of lobotomies as a weapon to prove a point to her many passive-aggressive insults designed to break her patients’ spirits, Nurse Ratched always acts like an autocrat.
McMurphy: His Death Scene Is One Of The Most Heartbreaking In Movie History
McMurphy’s death scene at the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is one of the most heartbreaking in movie history. When Chief arrives to escape with him, he finds lobotomy scars on his head — he’s too late. So, he puts him out of his misery by smothering him with a pillow before throwing the hydrotherapy fountain through the window and making a run for it.
In the book Psychiatry and the Cinema, Glen O. Gabbard and Krin Gabbard boldly described McMurphy as “a Christ figure for whom shock therapy is the crown of thorns and lobotomy the cross.”
Ratched: She’s A Stand-In For Every Corrupt Authority Figure
In the decades since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest hit theaters, Nurse Ratched has become a widely used metaphor for any corrupt authority figure. Her psychiatric ward is a stand-in for any oppressive bureaucracy.
When the movie came along in the mid-‘70s, America was still reeling from the Watergate scandal and struggling to trust the government. Cuckoo’s Nest tapped into that zeitgeist brilliantly.
