A Record of Disturbance

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Recommended: The role of music in movies

Jimi Hendrix once said, “Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.” This quote pertains to the way the director of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest positions his choice of music in the film. Milos Forman correlates the statement “music doesn’t lie” to the times in the movie where McMurphy tries to achieve a window of truth in Nurse Ratched’s unforgiving eyes. Written by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman and directed by Milos Forman, the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is adapted from Ken Kesey’s popular novel. It tells the story line of a new patient, Randle McMurphy, who enters the ward of a mental institution in Oregon. While there, he creates a disturbance in the systematic flow of the ways of Nurse Ratched, his cold-hearted enemy. The motif of music and record players serves as identification that something is awry or will soon happen in the ward due to McMurphy’s ambition to crack the stoic mind of Nurse Ratched.
The beginning gambling scene is the first time Nurse Ratched realizes Randle does not fit in with the other patients and will be a problem to her organized system due to his request to lower the volume of the music. The scene takes place at the barrier of the Nurse’s office. Nurse Ratched waits inside in her station while McMurphy is on the opposing side of the glass that is separating them. Randle gets frustrated after playing cards with the other patients because he can’t hear them due to the loud music that Nurse Ratched plays for the patients. He confronts her with his complaint that the music is too loud for him to hear his fellow ward members. The director uses a reverse shot to clearly show the conversation and the argument the two o...

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...hroom control panel like he always wanted, and escaping through the window. The music continues uninterrupted as the viewer watches a long shot of Bromden running free through grassy fields away from the captivity of the asylum.
In conclusion, the motif of music is used to show that Randle is changing the system and changing the people around him. He comes into the ward as a nonconformist and as one capable of making a difference in the ward and the lives of the other patients. He influences his fellow Ward members to not accept Nurse Ratched’s overpowering and inhumane actions. His witty personality is defined by the way he doesn’t let Nurse Ratched’s rules interfere with his regular routine even if it ruins her own. The music played and referenced signals a breakdown of Nurse Ratched’s control over the boys due to something that McMurphy did to disturb her.

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