Behind the Scenes of: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman) Full Video (52:02)Milos Forman shot "One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest" in 1975, and it is the first film produced by Michael Douglas.
PLOT: In order to escape prison, a delinquent (Jack Nicholson) manages to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. There he discovers a prison-like environment over which rules the head nurse (Louise Fletcher). Gradually, he rebels against her authority, leading along his companions. First punished with a session of ECT, he is eventually lobotomized after trying to strangle the nurse. His friend, a giant Indian, prefers to kill him rather than have him live as a vegetable and then escapes.
BACKGROUND: Based on a cult novel of American counterculture, the film reflects the anti-authoritarian climate of the '70s in the Western world. School, army, prison, and hospital are all accused of being instruments of social control. At the same time, in the U.S.S.R., the Soviet government imprisons political dissidents in mental asylums.
FILMING DETAILS Filmed in a real psychiatric hospital in Salem, Oregon, with the participation of its director, personnel, and dozens of patients serving as extras, the shoot itself has been an experience akin to the utopias of the time.
AWARDS: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" is the second American feature film made by Milos Forman. A worldwide success, the film won five Oscars in 1976—a feat that only Frank Capra had accomplished before Forman.
This 52 minute video has various segments:
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Development 03:49
Forman and Kesey: Background 02:20
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Publication of Novel 03:18
Filming Location 03:11
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": McMurphy03:35
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Casting: Other Characters 04:25
Pre-Production 02:17
Working with Patients 05:34
Improvisation 04:36
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Cinematography 02:25
Electroshock Therapy Scene 04:46
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Movie Ending 03:08
Critical Reception and Impact 07:35
Credits: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman) 00:36