Pen vs Reel: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Is the pen mightier than the reel? It's an age old question that has always seemed to have a single answer: YES. Time and again we have had some excellent books adapted into movies. Some of the movies have gone on to become cult classics; some have bombed badly, sometimes even tarnishing the reputation of the books. I recently had an experience where I read a book, considered a classic by most, and the movie made out of the book has also been labeled as a classic, winning 5 Oscars. The book - and movie - in discussion here is 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.

The Book

  

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', authored by Ken Kesey, narrates the vagaries of the inmates of a mental asylum. The asylum, under the hard-nosed rule of head nurse Ratched, consists of people deemed to have insane behavior which is curable (The Acutes) and people who are deemed to have incurable metal illnesses that have rendered them incapable of leading a normal daily life (The Chronics). The entire story is told from the point of view of an American Indian referred to as 'Chief' Bromden. Bromden, who is in perfect physical condition, is mistaken as a deaf and dumb individual. This enables him to listen in on all the happenings in the asylum while staying out of everyone's suspicions. His childhood and other experiences outside the asylum, and the observations that he makes in the asylum have led him to believe that the higher authorities (whom he calls as The Combine), Nurse Ratched in the asylum for instance, always try to segregate people who do not conform to the social norms. In his long stint inside the asylum, he has come to consider the asylum as the metaphor for the society that exists outside the asylum.

However, the arrival of Randle Patrick McMurphy shakes the asylum inmates out of their daily torpor as he goes about upsetting the daily routines of the ward. A criminal who has managed to convince the judiciary that he is indeed insane, walks into the asylum expecting to stay in there for a few months and then getting out. With this misconception in his mind, he proceed to wreak havoc in the carefully laid out time drill by Nurse Ratched. Though he tries to conform to the ward policies once he comes to know that his release is dependent on the reports submitted by Nurse Ratched, he soon realises that the rules and regulations implemented by Nurse Ratched are illogical and aimed at maintaining a tyrannical hold over the inmates of the asylum. The never-ending struggle of McMurphy against 'The Combine' in the asylum forms the central theme of the book.

From what I could interpret of the book, the book seems to be an effort to convey the struggle of an individual against a system hell bent on bringing back the medieval ages. It also dwells upon how the individual can be forced into conformity if he/she does not keep his/her wits about and refuses to think sensibly. These particular themes have been covered in a lot of different form of literature. Hence, I did not find the book as great as it is made out to be. Though from what I had heard and read about the book, this book is supposed to be a metaphor for the norm prevalent in American society at that time.

Having said that, I must say that the characters created by the author are very intriguing and well crafted. Also, the style of narration throughout the book - from 'Chief' Bromden's point of view - is very compelling. I won't go into further details of the book because - despite the theme being nothing out of ordinary - this book is worthy to be read at least once.

The Movie

Having read the book, I was quite interested in watching 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' - the movie. It has a rating of 8.9/10 on IMDB, and has won the 'Big 5' Academyawards (best movie, director, actor, actress, and adapted screenplay). First and foremost, I did not expect the movie to be as good as the book (they rarely are), but having seen masterpieces such as The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, and so on, I was hopeful of a good movie. However, I must confess that I was left disappointed.

The characters in the movie all seem to be botched up. Admittedly, Jack Nicholson does a good job as McMurphy, but still falls short of capturing the dubiousness of the character depicted in the book who leaves us guessing at times as to what his true motives are. The beauty of 'Chief' Bromden's character is the fact that he is the narrator in the book and hence, given his experiences as a child, we get a fascinating insight into the various elements at play in the asylum. In the movie however, relieving Bromden of his responsibility as a narrator means that he is quite literally rendered as a mere sideshow; the only exciting point involving him being the scene where he reveals to McMurphy that can actually listen and speak. Even the rest of the asylum inmates (maybe except for Billy Bibbit) lack the depth of character shown in the book.

The biggest disappointment however is Nurse Ratched. She's been reduced to a simple caricature of the actual character painted in the book. One of her biggest weapons is supposed to be her voice which she uses to manipulate - and at times provoke - the inmates. Louise Fletcher, however, fails to capture this and looks quite robotic. Another high point of the book is the relationship between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched - sometimes bordering on sexual innuendo. The director seems to have made no effort to capture the same.

One more thing that I thought was missing was the smooth flow of events that has been shown in the book. The movie just seems to move on randomly rather than following a definite plot. Director Milos Forman has captured the movie well in parts but does not do a very good job of linking those parts to form a good story.

All in all, I would say that Forman fails to do justice to what could have turned out to be a very good movie. I know most people seem to like the movie (as is evident on all the movie websites; it has a freshness rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes), but somehow, it just did not click for me. I would advice: read the book, and the movie, you can miss.