A Look Inside: One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest 

I found the movie uplifting in many ways, not disturbing.

All the RU-vid analysis misses the concept that McMurphy transfers his spirit and energy to the Chief as a sacrifice.

On March 3, 1971 at age 15 after two serious drug overdoses I was put into a very similar place called The Institute of Living in Hartford. I was there for 3 years. Cuckoo's Nest is uncannily accurate down to every small detail. Michael Douglas's half brother Eric Douglas was in the same place with me but not as long. I never met Michael but Kirk would come and visit.

Hearing that distinct music at the beginning made me kinda sad. It's such a great movie.

I kinda wish they made high school students read the book in the sophomore or junior year. I think it really gives a good lesson to kids at that age.

His spirit had to literally be removed to satisfy the lovely nurse ratchet. Very inspiring character. Jack Nicholson’s best.

Exceptional little analysis. As someone that grew up in a strict, fundamentalist religion I immediately recognised the theme of 'structured institutions contribute to mental illness'. It's amazing how we as humans can connect to a powerful story despite our various backgrounds. I was born and have lived my entire life in Trinidad (a Caribbean island). Yet I can totally relate to how how both Americans and Eastern Europeans can interpret the themes presented. Just goes to show how the power of film can truly transcend boundaries.

Surprisingly, there is no mention of the fishing sequence. I believe a peaceful lake is the perfect location to bring these mental patients, an area which, for the most part, remains unperturbed by American industry. An excellent study, Sean. Outstanding work.

McMurphy beated the system with his spirit!

The movie was brilliant! I love this movie

I just finished watching it for the 5th time and I actually find it heartwarming

Man, this movie got me so invested into McMurphy defeating the authoritarian nurse that I was legitimately depressed after he got lobotomized. It felt so real, like my own individuality has been permanently destroyed.

I've seen it more than 3 times and i dont think "disturbed"

My favourite of all time. I rewatch great movies but this one I could watch any day. The acting is a masterclass.

I had a favorite client who was in the Oregon State hospital when it was filmed. He told me that when they ran power cables to the ward they left a window unlocked and his friend Bernie jumped out .

The last time I saw this movie was over 20 years ago. It's very difficult on a personal level. I suffered depression and have been in hospitals like the one in the movie. Not a fun place to be at all.

Definitely one of my favourite films

I was saddened by the end because of McMurphy's death, but I was full of so much happiness when Chief escaped the hospital.

Sean, thanks so much for your wonderful insight into this iconic film. I read the book years ago, and you've inspired me to go back and re-read it. The Chief's "combine theory" rings true with anyone who's ever known someone who's schizophrenic, or been subjected to heavy drug treatments while hospitalized. I saw my father fall to this state when he was in the final stages of stomach cancer and under constant doses of medication. He described the hospital the very way the Chief describes the combine, with gears and motors emerging from the walls every night, and even a large, cruel matron running the whole thing. There's not a lot we can do, other than to accept people the way they are an try to understand them in their circumstances. I hope to see more of your film making talent in the future.

I lived for decades in a marriage that i could have left but didn't, it reminds me of my failings when i watch this film, it is trapping the soul in a place it should never be, behind locked doors, behind bars, my soul was smashed by a nurse Ractched, my wife, it haunts me to my core to listen to myself grieving for the lost years, now i am the deposit of this failure and find that i can now at least move on from the institution of marriage to a new horizon, i suffer no more mental illness than that which i impose on myself, i have walked out the gate, i am not running, nobody is chasing me..the best film ever made bar none.

Great analysis. That last 60secs brought the sadness and futility of the story back.

Great video, but don't forget that they may not have solved the problems the story raises but knowing a problem exists is already halfway to solving it. Thanks for the upload.

It's not always about medication and principles sometimes people just want some love and happiness.

I almost cried in this starbucks, I fucking love his movie. Good job

Great job man, the message, the near perfect acting and the overall feel of the movie make it my all time favorite and you did a very nice analysis of it

Outstanding review and analysis of a truly great book & movie! I very much enjoyed the manner in which you presented the back story of the book and the history of getting the movie made. Having read biographies of both Kirk and Michael I've been aware of the trials of Kirk and his frustrations in trying to get this movie off and after Michael wanting a shot at getting it made all the hoops and loops he too had to go through. Thanks again for your time and patience in making this video. Cheers from Ohio

Thank you for this video ❤ I just watched this movie for the fifth time. Masterpiece.

Cant believe how young these actors are. Damn.

One of the most beautiful films ever made. This movie will get me out of bed anytime I’m feeling depressed

I just watched this movie today and I loved it, it shows that being mentally disable doesn´t mean that you have to be a slave or follow the same routine everyday, Mcmurphy showed them that real life is about enjoy little things that makes you happy and that is about it, ENJOY LIFE AND BE HAPPY WITH WHATEVER YOU WANT !

Thank you Mr. McDougall, I enjoyed this video and your review of the movie.

Excellent video! Such a beautiful story. Long love the chief and mcmurry!

Interesting video. I didn't know half of this as I didn't read the book. One of my favorite movies. thanks Sean

Very good review, still probably my favorite film of all time.

Lots of very good comments! Thank you for your analysis, really helps estimulates the imagination. Cheers from Argentina.

Great video! I've read a lot of things about this movie, many have tried to forward the idea that it's about what effect the empowering of women have on men such as McMurphy. I must say that your video is enforcing my own views on this work of art ( i feel dirty just writing it hehe). I honestly feel it is just a commentary on the world that is shaping up to be a world, a world where you must conform. If you are out of the loop, you are just a outcast! Thanks again for the video!

Gene Wilder played Billy Babbitt in the stage play..I never knew..now, that would of be awesome to see...

Powerful stuff. Disturbing and uplifting...the ying yang of life

That was beautiful, thanks man!

I actually found this film very comforting

one of the really great movies

Nicely done!

Too violent to be needed outside of a warzone.... awesomely put.

Outstanding!! Thanks for posting!

Excellent movie and a great analysis.

excellent overview

Excellent video

Very interesting, and as always, you pointed out some of the things that were over my head. I've both read the book and have seen the movie, but it was long ago and perhaps I was too young to appreciate some of the finer points. Also, I was aware of some of Ken Kesey's background which lead to the book, but not the director's Czech influence. One of the things I liked best about the book was the telling of the story from the Chief's point of view. That was all lost in the movie, and of course, the character of R.P. McMurphy in the movie was even more overpowering than the book with the portrayal by Nickolson. The most "disturbing" part of the movie was the portrayal of Nurse Ratched (I always though it was Ratchet) brilliantly played by Louise Fletcher. We've all felt that frustration from dealing with someone who had all of the answers that expertly defeats all of your questions, and especially from someone who displays if in a passive/aggressive way. In the movie (I forget if and how it was portrayed in the book) the scene where McMurphy attacks her and begins choking her seemed like a rape scene to me. I've often wondered what the conversation between the actors was during rehearsal, and if she knew he was really going to "go for it".

Read the book, when I was 17. Saw the movie shortly after. Like the book to this day, over the movie. I pictured McMurphy, completely different from Jack Nicholson' s portrayal, but book to screenplay isn't always a clean transition. I have my 2nd hand paperback, ive read cover to cover, (which are falling apart with sections of the book and the 2 disc DVD set.

I did two weeks in a high security mental health facility. It wasn't this bad, but it certainly seemed that way for some of my fellow patients

The inspiration is actually now a Netflix series.

loved this!

Thanks for the insight. Recommend the film about the film, a more than one hour long documantary that is on the official DVD. I hoped it was on RU-vid but... It's much on how hard at was to get the film produced, first for Kirk Douglas, who first even made it into an unsuccessful Broadway play, before trying to send the script to Forman, but also years later how Michael Douglas and the production team had to wait for months on a very busy Jack Nicholson, only to strike luck and find Will Sampson through a used car salesman in Monatana, the perfect cast for Chief Bromden, but also how they had time to find the perfect location in Oregon. There's so much more to some of the longest film preparations ever, but that's also how you make one of the best films.

I find the opening scene and music the most loneliest thing ever.

One of my fav films

I love this movie

Nnnnooooooooo! Your review can't end this way - say more!

Im from india...it's great pleasure to watch this movie..your review is great..this was the movie chaos vs authority...!

"I LOVE THIS FILM! BRILLIANT MOVIE! ONE OF MY FAVORITE! THANK YOU, SEAN MCDOUGALL" - M.S.C.

fantastic video brother

Good analysis.

Thank you Sean. : )

I liked your analysis, I can see you put lots of thought into it and researched a lot. Well done! One quick question, could you tell me where did you find that NPR interview record?

Nice Work Brilliant Movie

MKultra had another distinguished graduate: Ted Kaczynski AKA Unabomber. His CIA sponsored sessions in school were extreme psychological torture. Now that would make a great movie- not the tv tripe about catching him but from his point of view from being a child mathematical prodigy to what he was subjected to in school. Thank you, CIA for some inspired works by your subjects. And I guess congrats also in order for creating the Hippie movement and all the great ideas and music.

Great video!

Great review, thanks mate!

It's funny I guess the US and the USSR weren't/aren't that different after all

governments during cold war: "we are so different from each other! the enemy is horrible and corrupt!" One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (book and film): "actually both of these countries' governments are institutions intent on eating the individual." both Governments: *shocked Pikachu face*

Thank you

Very well done.

Not to troll your always excellent work, this is just my own experience having seen this film first when I would of been 13 or so. I always felt the theme of the movie was pretty clear and not hidden or subliminal. Granted, I wouldn't of been movie literate enough to understand the symbolism of Mc Murphy and the water fountain at first, for example, but the movie was always about how the system tries to stamp out the human spirit and challenges to its authority for me. Like many 70's movies, the film was an inspirstion in that regard. It was the decade of great anti establishment movies after all, THX 1138, All The President's Men, Robert Altman's M*A*S*H (one of the greatest and wittiest anti war mvoies ever made!) to name but three. For me the joy of ...Cookoo's Nest is it's very obvious themes. It is a painfully beautiful allegory and man oh man, if the Chief escaping at the end doesn't give your soul renewed vigour, as you'd say yourself, there's something wrong with you! Excellent channel. You're one of my 'go tos' when it comes to film appreciation video essays.

My fifth favorite movie of all time.

A classic movie in parallel with the Beatles music.

I was never disturbed watching this movie.

I'm not gonna lie, turning a book that gives people an insight into the plight of the mentally ill and making the movie focus on the fact we "Live in a society", kinda irks me.

I feel Mcmurphy's PAIN FROM WHEN I was in the hospital. (I 😢LIVED EXPERIENCE😤)

Great video

perfect review thank you

What I got from the book and the movie is this: McMurphy tried to “play” the system, and the system beat him down. The Chief won because he simply walked away/abandoned the system. I always felt this is what Kesey and the Merry Pranksters were trying to do in real life.

In high school, our English teacher made us read this book, afterwards we saw the movie but we never got to the ending in the book :(

Cool Video! If this was for a project, I hope you got an "A".

very moving

Nice presentation. I would have mentioned Kesey hated what they did to his book and why he did.

Bravo well done!! Thank u I just subbed

I went to a psychiatric hospital it’s more disturbing it was scary

It is the same mental hospital that serial killers go to...in Salem, Oregon. Very creepy.

Another very controversial film is Ruling Class starring Peter O'Toole!

Was does the Chief kill him in the end?

Greaaaaat! Thanx a lot!

Chief set mcmurphy free at the end just as mcmurphy taught chief to be free throughout the movie.

dude, this is cool

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So there was a solution to the problem of the maintenance of the integrity of the individual vs society. As you say, "They did not allow the system to beat them".

The cuckoos nest interior of the mental institution is it the same set as 'Awakenings'?

I thought it was a wonderful film, the acting was brilliant, sad but also hilarious, loved it Mc Murphy would soo have cheered those poor souls, Nurse Ratchet was pure evil.😥😥😥

In Ken Kesey's Garage Sale he says that the book was inspired by Jesus Christ.

you sound like ben affleck's brother

come back

Bromden Will Sampson!