One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Film - Movie Review Example

“One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” Film and Novel Review The movie d One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is amotion picture directed by Milos Forman is an outstanding film because the director got so many things right. A novel with the same title inspired the movie, although Forman altered the plot, making the film different in some aspect. The movie focuses on McMurphy, who is the main character and his outstanding personality that influences the behavior of other patients in a mental institution. Just like the novel, the movie’s setting is a mental institution and many of the characters are patients and nurse Ratched. Forman depicts how McMurphy uses his outgoing personality to make patients in the institution view their situation differently. He seeks to introduce reforms in the system of the mental institution ad rebel against nurse Ratched (Kesey). He exhibits his daring aspect at many instances and even does crazy things such as smuggling beer into the institution.
The film exhibits numerous differences from the novel. It succeeds in making the characters real, but fails in advancing the plot to a level beyond its potential. Whereas, Chief Bromden is the main character as the well as the narrator of the novel, his role is superseded by that of McMurphy in the film. Moreover, the film does not present background information about the chief, which is available in the novel. Evidently, the film distorts some of the characters in the novel, although it makes the plot more intriguing. Whereas the film depicts Chief Bromden as only being able to speak a single phrase, the book highlights him as very communicative. Worth noting is the fact that the behavior and personality of McMurphy are altered immensely in the film, where he receives the leading role. This does not occur in the novel. Some critical aspects of the plot in the novel such as Cheswick committing suicide and McMurphy’s confirmation to the wishes of nurse Ratched are not included in the film. Notably, there are numerous changes in the film and the ones highlighted in this essay are not conclusive. Worth noting is the fact that the film received many awards because of its quality, but has been criticized for altering the plot (Kesey).
Work Cited
Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest: The Film and the Novel. Web. 13th Nov. 2014. Read More