DGA Monthly

8 I D G A M O N T H L Y morning as he falls asleep. It's a full minute, putting us in an almost uncomfortable position, looking at McMurphy so closely. At the same time, everything going on in his head makes the transition work so well as time passes on him. It's up to the audience to interpret the close-up." Pausing for a moment, Vallée reflects on how Cuckoo's Nest has influenced his own work. "I referred to this film when I was making Dallas Buyers Club (2013)," he says. "The story of an underdog like McMurphy, this character you're not supposed to care about. He's a hustler, streetwise, irreverent, with all the flaws in the world, treating people like shit, almost abusing them. And then suddenly you realize this guy has some humanity and is doing the right thing. I used it as a specific reference for Matthew McConaughey [who won an Oscar for his performance]. I was telling him, 'McMurphy, man. We've got to care for you like we cared for him.'" Back at the hospital, Forman next orchestrates a series of ebbs and flows building toward the inevitable collision between McMurphy and Ratched. After finding the ward destroyed, her uniform cap trampled and Billy and Candy in flagrante delicto, she has the patients congregate and reduces Billy to a hysterical mess, threatening to tell his mother what he's done. "Forman shows his strong storytelling sense here, with a pacing that builds emotion and rests before it goes again. She's there with her keys again, and there's so much tension between Billy and Nurse Ratched that when he cuts to a close-up of McMurphy, we feel exactly what he's feeling starting to build up. Then Forman returns to close-ups between Billy and Ratched, reaction shots from the others, and back to close-ups of Billy. After he's dragged away, Forman cuts between McMurphy and Ratched's glare, See what you did, McMurphy? Then we have time to move away before Billy is found dead, a suicide, and McMurphy attacks Ratched. Forman did a lot of coverage again and worked in the cutting room to build the perfect tension, rhythm, and feeling when to cut to McMurphy. This story is being told through feeling; we care about him even though he's not the nicest guy. But if he can be believable and credible, we buy in." Continued from page 7 — In this reprint from the Fall 2014 issue of DGA Quarterly, Director Jean-Marc Vallée marvels at how Miloš Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest emphasized performance over style. STICK OF GUM: Forman uses a lot of coverage to get the most out of the moment when Chief (Will Sampson) reveals to McMurphy that he can actually speak. Things seem to have returned to normal in the ward until McMurphy is led in and put to bed, apparently lobotomized and now a vegetable. Chief sneaks over to him and tries to talk about the escape until he realizes what's been done. He embraces McMurphy, and soft strains of the opening score return as he smothers him with a pillow. "Forman has switched to Chief's point of view now," observes Vallée. "A murder with music? In this film? We wanted McMurphy to escape, but we accept Chief's decision and want this now. We know we're at the end with this music, connected to the beginning. It's beautiful, in a way. There is humanity behind the murder, releasing McMurphy from a place he didn't belong. "Miloš is an amazing storyteller and a clever manipulator of the audience," says Vallée, stretching as the lights come up. "You can tell that he enjoys the process of telling a story with every aspect of it. With Cuckoo's Nest, he played with the audience almost like Hitchcock did: creating anticipation, a strong villain (although we're never quite sure who's wearing that hat), outwitting expectations. But instead of playing with suspense and fear, instead of exploring a genre film, Miloš played with the language of film to touch our humanity and compassion. He made us care for the misfits, made us want to fight for what's right, to fight against the establishment if need be, and maybe dare to be crazy sometimes. As a Director, man, do I relate to this one!" END OF THE LINE: (top) After shaming Billy into killing himself, Nurse Ratched finds him dead; (bottom) Forman used a recurring musical theme to help suggest the humanity of Chief putting McMurphy out of his misery. Director Jean-Marc Vallée was inspired by the film. (Movie Stills: United Artists/Photofest)

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