One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest reviewed archive, 1976

"Taken from a widely read novel by Ken Kesey, it is a prime example of how a subject which must have looked destined for the cultural ghetto of the art circuit can be hoist by its bootstraps into the commercial field and festooned with Oscar nominations. You can do this of course only by making compromises by engaging a star with redoubtable box office muscle by jollying your audience along a little before the real crunch comes."

"Kesey's book, structured quite differently, made its mark another way. It became, by allowing no compromise at all, a kind of sixties classic that went overground because everybody wanted to be let in on the fashionable secrets of the counter-culture."

"And in Jack Nicholson as McMurphy the film has a leading player of true class. Nicholson, unlike so many of the cinema's favourite leading men, has an extraordinary capacity to fit himself round a part rather than wrap one conveniently round him."

Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest depicts an inmate named McMurphy orchestrating a rebellion against authoritarian control within an asylum, challenging a rigid nurse who prioritizes order over freedom. The film adapts Ken Kesey's widely-read novel, transforming a subject potentially confined to art-house circuits into a commercially viable production with Oscar nominations. This transition required strategic compromises: casting a major star, engaging audiences gradually before dramatic moments, and employing skilled filmmaking within conventional frameworks. Kesey's original novel achieved cult status through uncompromising adherence to counter-culture ideals. Forman's naturalistic style and focus on character rather than abstract ideas differs from the source material, yet Jack Nicholson's performance as McMurphy demonstrates remarkable restraint and adaptability, allowing supporting characters prominence rather than dominating the screen.

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