One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, released in 1975, is based on the book written by Ken Kesey and published in 1962. The movie won the 'Big 5' at the 48th Oscars: Best Actor for Jack Nicholson, Best Actress for Louise Fletcher, Best Direction for Forman, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was the second film to win the 'Big 5' following It Happened One Night in 1934, and was not accomplished again until 1991 with The Silence of the Lambs and has not been achieved again thus far. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest proceeded to win 32 other awards, racking up a total of 37 awards between 1976 and 1988. The film was directed by Miloš Forman, a Czech filmmaker who immigrated to the USA in 1968. Despite his past failure with his first American movie, Taking Off (1971), producers Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz hired him to direct the adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel. It was later revealed that Douglas and Zaentz hired Forman because he was in their price range.
The film stars Jack Nicholson as Randle McMurphy, a new patient at a mental institution, with Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Danny DeVito, Sydney Lassick, and William Redfield featuring Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif in their film debuts. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is No. 33 on the American Film Institute's '100 Years 100 Movies' list and is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. The plot centers around Randle McMurphy faking insanity to escape his prison labor. He gets sent to a hospital for the mentally unstable, where he must rise against Nurse Ratched. Throughout his time in the hospital, he wins the hearts of the other patients in the ward through his characteristics mirroring that of Jesus.
There are repeated references to Jesus that draw attention to McMurphy's role as a savior. The men in the ward follow him like disciples because they believe McMurphy will bring them happiness. They followed him all the way to the sea, where McMurphy brought them on a fishing journey. He performs 'miracles' like getting Chief to speak and Bibbit to stop stuttering. When Randle joins the men in the pool, he dunks as if he is being baptized. He frequently rebels against the authority figure, Nurse Ratched, whose characteristics mirror the Pharisees of the Bible. She feels threatened by a new leader in their territories, even more so the said leader is favored among the majority. However, in the movie, Ratched's approaches are more genuine, showing concern for the patients' wellbeing rather than an authoritarian figure only seeking power and influence. For example, Nurse Ratched denies McMurphy's request to lower the music volume in the ward, saying that the sound is set to a certain level for the deaf men. Another example would be when Nurse Ratched is unwilling to change the schedule to watch the World Series, stating that the schedule is delicately balanced.
Because of McMurphy's repeated rebellion against Nurse Ratched and the orderlies, he suffers for his ward-mates on the electroshock table. While not considered an essential scene in the movie, the book elaborates on the procedure, showing parallels to the crucifixion and murder of Jesus Christ on the cross. Since McMurphy is still alive after the electroshock, it is a foreshadowing moment that his demise will come later, after the betrayal of one of his followers, Judas. The next night, McMurphy calls two prostitutes and invites them to the hospital, telling them to bring alcohol and that he will be escaping the ward that night. However, once he finds out that Bibbit likes his girlfriend Candy, McMurphy sets them up in a room together, urging Bibbit to lose his virginity. McMurphy falls asleep waiting for them to finish, thus sacrificing his own flight to freedom. Jesus's crucifixion is the result of the betrayal of Judas, who agrees to lead the Romans to Jesus in exchange for money. Similar to this story, Nurse Ratched sees the mess in the ward, pressures Bibbit into betraying his friend, McMurphy. Instead of tempting him with money, she threatens to tell his mother. The power has now transferred away from McMurphy to Ratched, who will use her newfound power to crucify McMurphy. After Randle's lobotomy, he effectively dies. While his body lies in the ward bed, emotionless, his legacy of freedom from oppression lives on in the patients. Similar to how Jesus died so his followers could live, McMurphy died so the patients could live. Chief Bromden reveals the empowered spirit that McMurphy has given him, using that novel feeling to escape from the hospital.
While the work's original author, Ken Kasey, intended to portray McMurphy as a savior who puts the patients' wellbeing and freedom above his own. This journey was meant to resemble Jesus in the Bible; the movie does not share the same richness and complexity of the novel. McMurphy is seen as a patient with Antisocial Personality Disorder and a God-complex who is a mentor or older brother figure to his friends in the ward. The movie's version of McMurphy's character does not do enough selfless deeds to be accurately compared to Jesus Christ, unlike the novel's version.
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