Another essay from my uni days, this one was part of a Film Adaptation module during my second year at TASC
Discuss the fidelity of the film adaptation of Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' in relation to audience theories; including the reception of the film and the difference between readers of the novel and viewers of the film.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest was a 1962 novel written by American author Ken Kesey. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1975. Actor Kirk Douglas originally played RP McMurphy in a stage version of the novel, after purchasing the rights to film the piece he passed them onto his son, fellow actor Michael Douglas who set into motion the production of the film whom also acted as producer for the film (Dirks). It was claimed that the film was made in order to appeal more to contemporary audiences. At the time, the now all-star cast were all relatively unknown, the film propelling their careers due to its critical acclaim, both as a film and also in novel form.
The film is set in a mental hospital in the 1960s and followed a group of patients on an all male ward. Kesey himself had spent time as a guinea pig for experimental drugs as well as an aide on a ward in a hospital in Oregon, and based his novel loosely upon his experiences and patients whom he had met during this time (Huffman, 2002). The novel is told from the point of view of a large Indian patient known as Chief Bromden, whereas the film is told from a more neutral view point, but closely follows McMurphy. The story begins when McMurphy is brought onto the ward after his behaviour becomes questionable whilst serving a prison sentence working on a farm after committing a string of crimes, the latest of which being statutory rape. The rest of the plot continues on, showing the reader and view what everyday life in the asylum is like. However McMurphy, not content with this, sneaks prostitutes onto the ward, gambles with the other patients and in the film, steals a bus and boat in order to take the men fishing (Dirks) (Kesey, 1962) (Forman, 1975).
