Miloš Forman talks about the strange series of events that led him to "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" (1975). January 10th, 2007 The full interview is available here : • Miloš Forman: What Hap...
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest of America many of us knew individuals where associated with Ken Kesey and The Pranksters. I was going to a small specialized four year college in Oregon, just a twenty minute drive from where Cuckoo's Nest was being shot ( interestingly enough it was in an old defunct insane asylum ). Needless to say we all knew the work, and we all knew about the film being made. Milos needed art for the home he was living in while the film was being made so several of us rented sculptures and paintings to him. However the fun part was that we found out where the actors were hanging out after a days shooting to wind down, it was a Black Angus Bary and Restaurant not far from where they were all living. So we would finish classes, hope into our car and race over there to drink and hang out. They sort of took over the place. Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito were "wild" as they riffed off of each other, Christopher Lloyd was completely unknown, I remember Chief ( played by the great actor Will Sampson ) was big, and I man a big man. In real life he is larger than he looked in the film, he would walk behind the cocktail waitresses and could wrap his hands thumb to middle finger around their waists. We would be kicked out by the management at 2:00AM and then race back to get enough sleep for 8:00 AM Morning classes.
Of all the thousands of films that I have seen, one very magic moment was when the big Indian (Chief) said “thanks” for the chewing gum. I think the whole audience is smiling at the thought of what it must mean.
That's a great perspective on the story as analogous to living in a country under an authoritarian regime. Seems obvious now, but I never thought about it like that before.
Funny how he starts by saying he doesn’t believe in fate then as he concludes the story of how the book finally gets to him he says - must have been some kind of fate lol.
Unironically, that could be what makes him a great storyteller. The ability to tell you a story that resolves, but leave you with a little smile and an even greater question
Incredible that Jack Nicholson has FAMOUSLY starred in two movies based off novels where the director changed the narrative of the story to the original author’s dismay. Yet it worked. Collaboration
Being a Kesey fan , I read the book long before the movie came out. The book was riveting. The movie was very entertaining, but i understand why Kesey wasn't happy about it....
I've read and loved a litany of classic literature and it pleases me that a modern(ish) novel like cuckoos nest may be the best book I've ever read. Sadly, to make it into a movie you pretty much had to erase the fact that it was the chiefs story and how the war between the "Big Mick" and the big nurse was affecting him and the others. I'm glad I saw the movie before I read the book or I may have been disappointed. But not much. A stellar movie and Jack shone brightly.
I think the book is a more realistic example of what it is like to be mentally ill. You are told that the things you experience are not real. The way you think is wrong. And, how you feel about people, etc, is not appropriate. How can a person understand the world that he can not interpret correctly. Also, the book tells a more raw version of how staff at a hospital (and a prison) truly can treat people terribly.
In those days one would say "Statistics expert" - same thing in human form. What I wanna know is which was the one film out of 70 that was a success. The Snake Pit?
The problem with making great novels into movies is, for cinematic purposes, you tend to lose too much. They almost always use the book's title for the movie because it helps sell it. But sometimes it would be better to use a different title and just say it was based on the original novel. Then you could perhaps forgive the liberties taken.
