Cinema: Aborted Flight

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST Directed by MILOS FORMAN Screenplay by LAWRENCE HAUBEN and BO GOLDMAN

Published in 1962, Ken Kesey's novel One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the chief literary contributions to the prevailing cultural mood of the '60s. But unlike so many popular artistic and intellectual productions of that era, the book may have the capacity to outlive its historical moment. In telling the story of Randle McMurphy and the brief, abortive rebellion which he organized in an insane asylum, Kesey demonstrated a tough-minded understanding of the subtleties of revolutionaries and revolutions.

Sexless Nag. McMurphy is...