![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carbonelOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Director: Milos Forman
1975
This film is one of three to have won all five of the top Academy Awards, so you know it was highly regarded from the start. Interestingly, Roger Ebert gave it three stars in his original review, then upgraded it to four stars in a later "Great Movies" review. I can see his point of view at both reviews. From a realistic story point of view, OFOTCN falls down in several places. And yet, it doesn't exactly work as an allegory about the free spirit against the establishment, either.
In fact, I enjoyed the movie most when I viewed it as a classic tragedy. R.P. McMurphy's tragic flaw was also his best characteristic at time: he was impulsive and generous, and lived for the moment. If he'd thought ahead at several places in the movie, he wouldn't have ended up how he did. While the movie has undeniable comic moments, I would never call it a comedy, even a black one.
Director: Milos Forman
1975
This film is one of three to have won all five of the top Academy Awards, so you know it was highly regarded from the start. Interestingly, Roger Ebert gave it three stars in his original review, then upgraded it to four stars in a later "Great Movies" review. I can see his point of view at both reviews. From a realistic story point of view, OFOTCN falls down in several places. And yet, it doesn't exactly work as an allegory about the free spirit against the establishment, either.
In fact, I enjoyed the movie most when I viewed it as a classic tragedy. R.P. McMurphy's tragic flaw was also his best characteristic at time: he was impulsive and generous, and lived for the moment. If he'd thought ahead at several places in the movie, he wouldn't have ended up how he did. While the movie has undeniable comic moments, I would never call it a comedy, even a black one.
