Actors "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", a film crew, a film plot

Randle Patrick McMurphy is a loner and a rebel, which perfectly corresponds to the spirit of America in the 60's. The role was played by Jack Nicholson, for whom this subject is close, later for which he received many well-deserved awards. The film was directed by Miloš Forman. He was always worried and interested in counterculture, the struggle of a single person against society, therefore this work is distinguished by its versatility. It would seem that in a psychiatric hospital he will be able to find peace, but here the inevitable happens.

Prehistory of creation

The novel by Ken Kesey "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was published in 1962 and immediately achieved a stunning success. Over the next ten years, it was re-issued in the United States of America more than twenty times. And a year later Kirk Douglas first staged a play on Broadway, he also played the main male role. But the project was not able to achieve the same success as the book, and from critics and did receive cool reviews.

In 1964, Douglas came to Czechoslovakia, where he met with director Milo Forman, with whom for the first time stipulates the possibility of filming the film. Returning home, Douglas sends out a publication that never reached the recipient, as it was seized at the customs.

Kirk sought to act as a producer and play the role of McMurphy, but due to many obstacles this dream was never to be fulfilled. Film companies did not want to give money to create "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the film was considered a failure in terms of commercial income. The topic seemed unnecessarily bold. This outraged Douglas, who lamented the fact that he brings real classics, and film companies can not understand this.

The plot of the movie

To avoid prison punishment, McMurphy decides to pretend to be mentally ill, wanting to achieve more comfortable conditions for himself, believing that he can escape at the first opportunity. He still does not realize how wrong he is.

In the ward, he sees his orders, which Sister Ratched has established. At the risk of everything, he tries to break the system, go against the staff and at the same time manage to keep the mind. All his incredible antics bring only advantage, he helps other patients, arranges gambling, always jokes. Some of them even start to go on the mend. But it's hard for one person to go against the crowd.

Work on the script

In 1971, Kirk decides to sell the rights to the film adaptation. When interest is shown by his son Michael, having no experience, he decides to try his luck. Together with producer Solo Zenz and a small film company Fantasy Films, having a small amount of money left in reserve, they begin work on the project.

The script also offered to write the author of the book, Ken Kizi. He spent about eight months to work. But as a result, he gave out something completely unsatisfactory to employers, similar in atmosphere to "Dr. Caligari's Cabinet," which did not coincide with the idea and understanding of the producers. And most importantly, the creators of the film saw the protagonist McMurphy, believing that the work should be conducted on behalf of a mentally healthy person. But Kizi wanted the leader of the work to remain the narrator of the work. The author did not recognize the version of the movie, and was offended by the creators.

Writing the script was entrusted to Laurence Hauben. It was with this version that the director's search began. Other candidates were considered, but Milosz Forman was given preference, as he is talented, experienced, and also took his work inexpensively. At that time he immigrated to America and managed to shoot one unfortunate picture. And he was in such a distressed situation and without work that he even thought of returning to his homeland.

As Michael and Solo recall, he was the only one who originally had a plan and a step-by-step vision of the picture. And Michael did not know that his father had already negotiated with this director. This was a curious coincidence. The first thing the director did was to re-write the script for the film together with Bo Goldman, at that time only the beginning author.

Selection of main characters

For the selection of actors, Foreman is extremely scrupulous, so for a whole year the castings of the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" lasted. Jack Nicholson was originally the number one contender for the main role. He perfectly matched all the requirements of the producer, a famous but low-paid star.

Unlike the role of McMurphy, where the actor was determined virtually immediately, the castings for Sister Ratchet lasted a long time. At the beginning of the selection, the director tried this role for Anne Bancroft, Colleen Dewhurst, Ellen Burstin, Geraldine Page and Angela Lansbury, whose actresses are accustomed to seeing in negative roles. They, as far as familiarizing themselves with the script, refused to shoot.

But in the process of working on the picture, Forman comes up with the idea that an actress should play this role, which initially will appeal to the viewer, he will sympathize with her, but only with the acquaintance with the character realizes that evil is not always obvious. Familiar director Louise Fletcher for a long time asked to pass a casting for the role of Sister Rathed. It was she with perfect and beautiful features, like a porcelain doll, came perfectly.

Actors of the second plan

According to the idea of the director, the role of secondary characters was performed by unknown actors. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is filled with actors who are difficult to orient to the viewer. Therefore, each of them must be bright, memorable and charismatic. So debuted in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Brad Dourif, Danny De Vito, Christopher Lloyd, Sidney Lassic.

There were considerable difficulties in deciding who would play the role of Leader. Since under the description it should be two-meter, and indigenous Indians, on the contrary, differed in their low growth. Therefore, this role was played by the unprofessional actor Will Sampson.

In general, the castings were more than 3000 performers, and the best actors were selected as a result. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has become an indispensable experience for many.

Location of the survey

And in January 1975, the crew began to work on the project, which lasted for three months. Curiously, the shooting took place in a real psychiatric hospital in Salem, Oregon. As it turned out, the medical staff was a fan of Ken Kesey's creativity, so a whole empty wing was allocated for the filming. Subsequently, the role of the doctor actually played the head physician of the clinic, and he acted as a consultant. And in the extras the real patients were shot, they were involved and as assistants.

The whole film crew was practically living in the wards, and by the end of the filming of the project, some did not even go to their rooms at the hotel. Arriving relatives started to worry about the psychological health of their loved ones, the actors "Flying over the Cuckoo's Nest" were so alive that they entered the image. Jack Nicholson, who came to the shooting later than the others, did not even immediately be able to distinguish real mentally ill patients from the cast. Foreman instructed the artists to watch the real patients, copy their conversation, habits, manners.

Filming

The shooting process was quite interesting, the actors did not always know when the cameras were turned on. Miloshu is close to the documentary genre, so he considered it especially valuable to remove a person's natural reaction. For example, when McMurphy returns after electroshock. In fact, it shows how Louise Fletcher reacts to the instructions of project managers.

At the request of the director, the actors "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" were constantly improvising. Especially close to this method was Jack Nicholson. Often in the middle of the filming process, he changed the lines, committed acts unplanned by the script. Despite the fact that they agreed on the shooting process, the general concept of the film was different for them, and by the end of the filming they practically did not communicate.

Premiere and awards

In November 1975, the premiere of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was held. The film won incredible success, crowded halls, enthusiasm of critics. Only in America, he collected a cashier at 109 million dollars, while, on the film as a whole, 3 million were spent.

For "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" Jack Nicholson received his first Oscar statuette. Also at the award ceremony he became one of three films, which won the Big Five.