I love films.
Ask people what their favourite one is, and they'll often dance around the question for a bit, because it's hard to settle on just one favourite. But, without hesitation, I will always land on one undeniable choice: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
The storytelling is exceptional. And the performances? Gut-wrenchingly good. The stuff of masterclasses, with every one deserving every ounce of the praise they got.
At the 1976 Oscars, the film won all five major awards, the 'Big Five' as it's called, only the second film ever to do it:
Best Picture. Best Director (Miloš Forman). Best Actor (Jack Nicholson).
Best Actress (Louise Fletcher). Best Adapted Screenplay (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman) - remember this last name.
I recently watched a documentary about how it was made. The cast lived on site at Oregon State Hospital for three months. They shadowed real patients, and eighty-nine actual patients worked as extras and crew. That level of commitment to the story, the art, and the craft shows up on screen. You can feel it.
There are some brilliant stories in the interviews. Cast, crew, the director, all of them had something worth hearing. But one moment from the screenwriter, Bo Goldman, right at the end of the documentary when he was discussing the tragic, defiant fate of Randle P. McMurphy, floored me. The weight of feeling behind the words was visceral.
'If a man leads a good and honest life, he's going to come out OK. Even if his career gets destroyed, if he loses his children, if he loses his wife, he'll come out OK, because he's written the right script for himself.’
The raw vulnerability of the statement, acknowledging that a person can lose everything tangible (marriage, family, career) yet still retain their inner worth, was profound.
There's a lot in life you can't control. Careers end. People leave. Plans fall apart. But how you conduct yourself through it all, the script you're writing every single day, is yours. Nobody can take it from you.
That's what a good story can do. It finds you exactly when you need it. So, make sure yours is a good one.
