One of the most prominent films, which has long entered the pages of film history and is often mentioned in the top ten films - Miloš Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) returns to the cinema screens. Released more than 40 years ago, the film was a huge success, winning five Oscars, six Golden Globes, and is still considered Forman's most famous film. However, the process of its creation is no less interesting than the work itself.
It took even 13 years for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to be presented to the general public. The famous American actor and producer Kirk Douglas had high hopes for this film, having acquired the screen rights to Ken Kesey's cult novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962). Back in 1964, while visiting Czechoslovakia, the actor met the young director M. Forman, to whom he promised to send K. Kesey's book by mail. However, it never reached the addressee - it was confiscated by the Czechoslovak customs. The film's development progressed when the rights to the film were transferred to Douglas's son, Michael, who was a budding actor at the time.
M. Douglas and M. Forman's paths crossed much later, after the director had already moved to the United States of America. Mr. Forman was still new to the American film industry at the time, but he had a reputation as an inexpensive film professional. In an interview, M. Douglas said that he was impressed that in the first meeting, M. Forman was the only one who described the filming plan in detail.
The search for actors also caused a lot of trouble for the producers, although Jack Nicholson was chosen for the main role almost immediately, due to his busy schedule, filming was delayed for six months. Another, risky, decision, according to Mr. Douglas, is to film in an operating psychiatric hospital in Oregon. Although it was much more expensive than shooting in a studio, the location added authenticity to the film and helped the actors get more into their roles. During filming, they had the opportunity to interact with patients and even live in the hospital.
While in his previous films Mr. Forman liked to work with non-professional actors, in this film, there are only a few, one of the most memorable is Dean R. Brooks, who played himself, the chief physician of the Oregon Psychiatric Hospital. Most of the episodes of his conversation with McMurphy brought to the hospital were improvisations. It is also worth noting that 15 hospital patients contributed to the making of the film, not only helping the film team, but also becoming secondary actors.
M. Forman's film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" will be shown at the film classic evenings organized by the "Skalvija" film center on December 16. (presented by film critic Dmitrij Glushchevskij), 30 (film critic Narius Kairys), January 6. (film critic Izolda Keidošiūtė), 13 (film critic Mantė Valiūnaitė), 20 (actor Andrius Bialobžeskis).
The screenings are presented by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Lithuania, remembering the famous Czech director Miloš Forman, who passed away this year, and commemorating the 50th anniversary of "Prague Spring", which is very important for the Czech Republic.
More information www.skalvija.lt
