Director
Milos Forman
Leading Actors/Actresses
Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, Will Sampson
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Scatman Crothers, Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito
Genre
Drama
Language
English
Awards
Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, Best Screenplay
Date of Release
1975
Producer
Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz
Setting and Context
A mental institution in Oregon in the early 1960s
Narrator and Point of View
Omniscient narrator. The original novel by Ken Kesey was written from the perspective of Chief Bromden, but this element was removed for the film, a point of contention between Kesey and the producers, which caused Kesey to withdraw from the process.
Tone and Mood
Darkly comic, unsettling, naturalistic, at turns terrifying and uproarious.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist: McMurphy (or perhaps Chief); Antagonist: Nurse Ratched
Major Conflict
The main conflict of the film concerns McMurphy's power struggle with Nurse Ratched. He wants desperately to escape the confines of the institution, and Ratched seeks to monopolize power and make her patients dependent on her.
Climax
The climax occurs the morning after the party thrown in the ward, in which Billy Bibbit commits suicide and McMurphy attempts to strangle Nurse Ratched.
Foreshadowing
Billy's death is foreshadowed by a therapy session in which Nurse Ratched talks about his first attempt to kill himself, which had to do with his shame around his feelings for a girl.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
The film was shot with a very small budget on the premises of a real mental hospital. Dr. Spivey was played by the actual director of the Oregon State Hospital, and some of the patients worked on the crew of the film. Additionally, the film was the second in history to receive all five of the major Academy Awards.
Allusions
Paradox
McMurphy's continued desire to escape the institution only leads to further confinement.
Parallelism
Chief Bromden eventually finds freedom by employing the privilege of his size. He tells McMurphy that his father is always shrinking himself, but he is able to break out of the institution by using his unusual strength to throw the fountain through the window to escape. His story parallels his father's and McMurphy, who could not employ bigness or strength to lift the fountain or to escape the institution.
