One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the Milos Forman classic hosted by Jack Nicholson, airs this Monday night on Arte. But by the way, what does this title mean?
Released in French cinemas in 1976, Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a must-have in the seventh art, tells the story of Randall Patrick McMurphy, a new resident of a mental hospital in the 1960s, who confronts Mildred Richd. , senior director of the institution.
While Arte broadcasts One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest this Monday night, we take a look at the name of this classic, played by Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. What could this mean?
To get the meaning of the title One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Someone flew over the cuckoo’s nest in VO), we must first delve into Ken Kesey’s 1962 bestseller from which the film is adapted. In the book, we learn that Chief Bromden (played on screen by Will Sampson) worked on his English pronunciation by singing.
The said song ends like this:Wire, goose, flock of three geese / one flew east, one flew west / and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest “flew east, one flew west / and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest”). We can clearly draw parallels between these few verses (the last of which is the title of the work) and the end of the story, with the death of Billy (Brad Dourif) and McMurphy, then the escape of Elder Bromden.
Finally, note that the English term “cuckoo”, if it literally refers to a bird (cuckoo), is also used in slang to describe a person who is slightly insane. The metaphor with the mental institution is then quite obvious here.
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Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
