Shot by Shot Analysis Paper - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Shot Sequence
In film 28:13 to 28:41
In clip below 2:40 to 3:08

In the 1970s, there was a cultural fascination with the rise of the individual against the communal structure. In establishing the overarching theme of the oppression of humanity by institutions, Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) relies strongly on the power of character development through filmic techniques. In the stark environment of a psychiatric hospital, the film presents a standard set of mental patients whose fate is determined by their corrupt nurses. The infiltration of a questionably insane felon shakes up the hospital’s rigid system and showcases the irrationality of societal expectations. During a short sequence of the film, the interaction between an unconventional mental patient, Harding who is played by William Redfield, and Jack Nicolson’s character, the new rebel patient R.P. McMurphy, provides a basis for character analysis. The segment uses both narrative and filmic techniques to reveal characterizations that oppose the roles society has placed them into, building an anomaly that raises criticism for the institution.

The sequence in question takes place from 28:13 to 28:41 in the film and consists of four shots. Before the sequence with Harding, McMurphy develops his role as resident rebel by undermining the nurses’ power by entering their office to turn the music down. His conversation with Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) about why the music must stay at a constant volume for the well being of all patients draws on the absurdity of the scope of her authority. Engaging in a passive aggressive argument about the pill he must take, McMurphy acts on his disrespect for their orders by pretending to take it and mocking them in the process. The sequence continues from this point in a series of four shots and gives a glimpse of the problems with the workings of the institution.

Shot 1

Within the narrative of the film, the four shots in question present a situation where Harding concedes to the orders and McMurphy defies them. During Shot 1, Harding moves up to the nurses’ medicine station, preoccupied by his observation of McMurphy and is politely drawn to attention by the nurses. He obediently takes his prescribed pills and moves on with a twang of sarcasm. While McMurphy has just challenged the effort to make him take the pill, Harding uses French, saying “merci” to actually thank the nurses for his medicine. In comparison to the other patients, Harding seems to possess a much more intellectual and articulate demeanor. At this point in the movie, there is no prominent evidence of his insanity and he serves as the ideal patient for the nurses. From his carefree interactions with the people in the ward, its clear that Harding used to be the leader of the patients before McMurphy arrived on the scene. He exists under utter control of the nurses’ rules and exhibits no fear of McMurphy. This characterization demonstrates that Harding represents the stability of the institution before the onset of McMurphy’s vivacity.

Shot 2

Shot 2 shows the hospital room and how the return of McMurphy and Harding to a card table elicits another patient, Martini (Danny DeVito) to get up and move to another seat. The shot emphasizes the hierarchy among patients. Billy Bibbit, who is seated on the other side of the table waiting for the leaders’ arrival, shows full interest in McMurphy and only takes his eyes off him for a moment to glance at Harding. The two patients who are standing behind the chairs in guard-like poses give the impression that they would not dare an attempt to take seats of the others patients. This reveals the expectations their lesser rank within the hospital. Although according to the hospital it is medication time, the shot demonstrates that the people in the room are much more concerned with what McMurphy is doing then what the nurses have planned. McMurphy’s role as a leader of men in the community and as a distraction from the establishment lends to the empowerment of the individual.

Shot 3

With Shot 3, Harding turns to McMurphy and asks him why he didn’t verbally defy the nurses. His curiosity is marked by a playful interest and candid tone. Because he has lost his position amongst patients, he now exists independent of the tension between the nurses and McMurphy. The mental hospital is keeping him as a patient, yet he seems entirely rational and fully capable, divulging an apparent discrepancy to the righteousness of the institution.

Shot 4

In Shot 4, McMurphy puts a hand on Harding’s back, displays the horse pill still in his mouth, and spits it out in response to his questioning. Without words, McMurphy looks directly into Harding’s eyes provides a bold reply, while physically asserting his authority. In comparison to Harding’s placement in the mental hospital, McMurphy’s presence there seems much more reasonable. He is rash, unpredictable, and clearly not suited for world beyond the white walls of the hospital. Ironically, his presence there is due to a strategic avoidance of jail time and a fake illness. The backwards treatment of their “disorders” manifests the perception of the institution as illogical and unfit to care for their actual shortcomings.

The meanings derived from this segment can be enhanced through the examination of how each shot in the sequence was filmed. As the film takes on an omniscient perspective, Forman uses short takes, edited so there are multiple points of view in each scene. In the time before the sequence, the film’s mise-en-scéne develops the environment of the hospital and the operation of the patients within the institution. The white starched enclosure of the hospital reflects the severity of the institution and how it contrasts with the humanity of its occupants. Also contributing to the aura of the hospital, the film uses shots of locked doors and fences to highlight the patients’ physical and emotional separation from the realities of the outside world. The background music playing throughout the sequence is monotonous and melodious and louder than expected to reinforce McMurphy’s logical problem with it hindering their conversations.

In Shot 1, an extreme close-up of Harding’s face with an unfocused background stresses his eyes and expressions. His eyeline match directed at the nurses behind the counter implies that the shot is warranted from their view. With glasses and mustache in the close-up, Harding appears dignified and sophisticated and thus unfit for such a habitat. The transition to Shot 2 is a match-on-action motivated by the motion of Harding’s arm. As an establishing shot, the next long shot showing large portion of the hospital room changes the view to a more encompassing perspective. The overall color composition adds to the concept of the installed hierarchy. The nurses wear only white, claiming their alleged decency, while beige overwhelms the majority of the walls, table, and patients’ scrubs, creating an atmosphere of conformity. By critical exception, McMurphy’s regular clothes in bold colors and Harding’s plaid robe stand out, as they attempt to resist the submission that the institution assigns. The camera pans down slightly and cuts to a Shot 3 by motivation of the turning heads.

Shot 3 is an over-the-shoulder close-up that offers another defining shot of Harding’s character as the first shot in a shot-reverse shot dialogue. McMurphy’s point of view leads to the dialogue cut that will come with the transition to the reverse shot. Arguably, Shot 3 and the transitions surrounding it are very typical of editing procedure and are used by the director as a standard film technique. These filmic strategies reflect Harding’s character and enhance his image as a straight-laced and stable personality in the setting of the mental hospital. The pace of the editing seems to agree with that of the music playing. On the other hand, Shot 4’s reverse over-the-shoulder close-up of McMurphy allows for both the pill and proximity between the two characters to be seen. The shot-reverse shots are directly on eye level to emphasize the realism of their conversation through a camera. In comparison to Shot 3 and Harding’s characterization, the different nature of Shot 4’s transition parallels McMurphy’s character. After Shot 4, the quick match cut occurs before the pill is spit out and reverts back to the establishing shot of the room to make the effect obvious. This sudden switch comes across as a disruption, corresponding well to the spontaneity and humanity of McMurphy’s character. The technical interpretation of this sequence expresses similar ideas derived from the purely narrative analysis.

This segment depicts clear characterizations and provides evidence for the thematic development of the rise of humanity against the illogical institution through both filmic and narrative elements. The concept that the filming should be reflective of narrative resonates one of the themes presented in Comolli and Narboni’s “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism.” In explaining how cinema is the product of its era, “The film would unveil everything that has been integrated into it,” they agree that One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest makes a statement according to the prevalent ideology of the time. They also argued that all elements of the film should be considered: “Of course all the film expresses is the film, but it expresses all the film.” Ultimately, evaluating the story, enunciation, and conventions used in editing is crucial in determining the ideology of a film, or in this case, a mere sequence of one.

As every piece contributes to the overall effect of the whole, a short sequence of a film can illustrate a prevailing view of the era’s ideology. Presented through character development and continuity editing, Milos Forman’s critically acclaimed film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest relays a widespread resentment characteristic of the 1970s and of mankind at large. The elicited ideology stems from the dynamic tension between the humanity of an individual and the institution’s installment of conformity.