This week's entry into the Cultural Toolbox is widely acknowledged as one of the great Hollywood films - a counter-cultural masterpiece starring one of the most talented actors of his generation at his manic best.
That's right - it's the film adaptation of Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.
You can listen back to the podcast of this week's Cultural Toolbox below:
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was published by Ken Kesey in 1962, taking its title from a nursery rhyme written by Oliver Goldsmith.
Kesey based it on his own experiences working as a night orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California. As well as witnessing the institution first-hand, Kesey voluntarily took psychoactive drugs as part of the the CIA-financed MKUltra experiments, and indulged in recreational LSD usage.
The resulting novel is a brilliant attack on the power of institutions and the state, with Kesey taking aim squarely at the mass-medication of American society, which he perceived as an attempt to neutralse individualism.
Its narrator - Native American Chief Bromden - uses the term 'the combine' to refer to institutions and authorities which use their coercive power to keep individuals in check.
Miloš Forman's adaptation retains the staunchly anti-authoritarian tone of the novel, with McMurphy's battle against the fascistic nurse Ratched taking centre stage.
Through various adventures and misadventures - including a boozing session with prostitutes, a basketball game, and a fishing trip - McMurphy tries to draw his fellow patients out of their shells, only to be thwarted by Ratched at every turn.
However, despite these attempts at escape - and escape to nature, through the trees, on the open water, is where contentment lies for McMurphy - ultimately the film is profoundly sad.
Without giving it away, Forman - like Kesey - shows the immense damage inflicted on the individual spirit by the authorities, all under the guise of help.
Legacy
Clearly striking a tone with both the American public and a worldwide audience, the film was immensely successful and quickly regarded as a classic of Hollywood cinema. The American Film institute would later rank it the 33rd best film of all time.
It is one of only three movies to win the so-called 'Big Five' (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best (Adapted) Screenplay ) - It Happened One Night and The Silence of the Lambs are the others.
The subdued ferocity of Lousie Fletcher's performance as Nurse Ratched has made the character a by-word for institutional sadism, and the AFI ranked her 6th on a list of greatest Hollywood villains.
And the endearing, yearning and ultimately crushed individualism of McMurphy remains the standard against which all Jack Nicholson's performances have since been measured. Though he holds the record for most Academy nominations - with 12 - his maniacal grin in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is still the defining image of the actor in his brilliant prime.
