One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Film Analysis

The American drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Milos Forman in 1975, is a film that provides many elements of mise-en-scene. The elements that stroke the audience the most were the props and lighting. Many instrumental props were used in the film, although they played important parts in the film and carry a meaning to them, and some of these props were also used as contextualized props. The costumes in this film look very similar to one another, but they have a meaning to them and play an important part in the character’s developments.
Throughout the film, many instrumental props stood out to the audience. First of all, the film consistently focuses on keys, which were used as an instrumental prop, and the echoes of the keys …show more content…
Contrary to the keys, the cigarettes portray independence. Cigarettes portray independence because the cigarettes are their belongings and they have permission to smoke them, although they are not allowed to light them on their own. However, the orderlies of the mental institution have the power of the patients in their hands by lighting their cigarettes for them. On the other hand, the orderlies are unaware that as a matter of fact, the patients are being offered some supervision because of the orderlies lighting up their cigarettes for them so this is the one and only moment that the patients are superior to the orderlies, so they take advantage of this moment. For instance, one of the orderlies automatically lights a cigarette for Martini when he holds his cigarette high up over his head, and in order to make the orderly help him, it appears as though he is pleased with himself, which is his individual pride. The cigarettes are the only way to disburse money and while the patients are playing blackjack; they are also used to symbolize dimes and as a replacement for chips. In addition, the cigarettes supply patients with temporary cash, making them see themselves as more like adults and with the cigarettes, the patients also have the control to be more courageous and take chances and to gamble and compete. This use of the cigarettes is an example of a contextualized prop as …show more content…
Every patient in the hospital was required to dress in all-white attire, which greatly reflects their lack of power in their lives, since this is a way of constraining them and having power over them. Although the color white usually represents care, sanitation, protection, and the medical field, the white attire that the patients are forced to wear highlights that they are not viewed as people and are therefore not viewed as important. The patients do not have the freedom to express themselves in their own way because of the dress code, but that does not stop some of the patients from wearing various colors underneath their uniforms, as they were trying to uphold individual features of who they really are outside the hospital. McMurphy has a shirt that is not white on underneath his white attire for most of the time, which indicates that he does not entirely agree with the order and also indicates his obstinate attitude. McMurphy’s stand against the dress code encouraged Cheswick to replace his style, Cheswick originally followed the rules of the dress code and wore all white, and after he learns more about McMurphy and his style, he took a stand against the forbidding dress code and began wearing a black jacket over his white attire. Nurse Ratched’s hairstyle throughout the film is shaped and cut into a devil antler’s shape, which