Movie
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
This is perhaps a controversially low ranking given many similar themed lists have this tyrannical nurse in a much higher position, but I ought to re-emphasise I consider my top 40 choices all to be legendary villainesses. The film is undoubtedly a classic and one of only three (to date) to win all five “big” Academy Awards. However, my opinion – and this is all very subjective, of course – is there are 34 female villains I’ve enjoyed more than this one. Also, quite a lot of time is devoted to patient bonding and the main antagonist is arguably the corrupt 1960s US mental health system, even though Nurse Ratched does make a terrifying figurehead.
The biggest threat to her authoritarian regime comes from Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a recent transfer suspected of faking mental illness to lessen his sentence for statutory rape. This guy is hardly hero material, but McMurphy comes across as likeable because the head nurse is such a sadistic control freak and his charisma has a heartwarmingly positive influence on the other patients.
From the outset – and his first visit to the head doctor’s office – it’s obvious a rule-breaker like McMurphy isn’t going to fit in with Nurse Ratched’s tight ship approach. Early on he’s a quiet participant in group therapy, which deteroriates into an argument while Ratched and a passive assistant watch in silence. But it’s not long before McMurphy encourages his fellow patients to disregard authority and forms a bond with the giant deaf mute Bromden – also known as “The Chief”. This relationship matures into friendship as McMurphy teaches him basketball, leading to eventual triumph in a bad-tempered game against the hospital orderlies.
Like many “oldies”, the pacing is much slower than what we’re used to in modern movies. Quite a few scenes feel stretched out, notably where the patients play cards for cigarettes, some of the therapy sessions, and a whole middle section where McMurphy leads an unauthorised escape and a literal fishing expedition. These lengthy segments could have been trimmed without losing substance, but the ensemble cast – which includes Danny DeVito in an early role, and film debuts from Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif – all give terrific performances.
Despite all the positivity from McMurphy, this is a dark tale and was never going to get a happy ending. So, perhaps this is not a film to watch when you’re feeling depressed and want to finish on a cheery note.
Villainess
Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher)
Putting together a video review for this villainess is difficult as her scenes are dialogue heavy with little in the way of action, so I focused on key exchanges with narrative input to give an overview of the main nurse / patient interactions. Thankfully, it’s much easier to write a text summary.
Early confrontations between McMurphy and Ratched are over trivial matters. First, he wants her to turn down the music on the ward. She refuses of course, showing she’s intent on controlling every little thing. Next on the agenda is the more serious matter of the baseball World Series, which McMurphy wants to watch on television. This goes to a vote among the patients, but very few support the motion – and Nurse Ratched’s gloating smile tell us this is a woman who enjoys authority over those in her care.
McMurphy isn’t one to quit so easily, and after some alone time with the patients – and a bit of unorthodox hydrotherapy where he drowns two men and a monopoly board – he’s got the other men thinking about important stuff like free will and escaping. So when it comes to a second vote on the World Series issue, the discussion group votes unaminously in favour. Nurse Ratched – remaining super calm – is quick to point out there are nine other men on the ward (the more crazy and delusional patients), and McMurphy doesn’t have a majority. He runs around searching for the one vote he needs, showing real leadership, but his rallying attempt seems doomed to failure until the Chief raises his hand. And… Nurse Ratched argues the session was closed before the final vote, so it doesn’t count. Get the impression she decided the result beforehand?
After McMurphy’s disorganised “fishing trip”, the head doctors suggest sending him back to the work farm, but Ratched insists on helping him. That’s what she claims, but her joyful smile when Randle finds out there’s no time limit on his hospital stay suggests this woman is only interested in regaining control. The previously calm nurse gets angry with McMurphy – and later the other patients – when they act defiantly and refuse to play along. There’s a great scene where one man demands his cigarettes be returned, and Ratched shifts blame to McMurphy over gambling in an attempt to turn the others against him.
Following a fight on the ward, the staff subject McMurphy to electrotherapy, but this only stiffens his resolve. The Chief – previously thought to be deaf and mute – reveals he’s been faking it the whole time, and McMurphy decides to throw a Christmas party before leaving for good. He bribes a staff member to let booze and women on the premises, and things predictably get out of hand. Bring those things on a ward full of lunatics – what could possibly go wrong? There’s a moment where another strict nurse almost discovers the patients out of their beds, but this is really a delaying tactic until the authorative Ratched returns the following morning.
It’s here the nurse shows her truly evil side. She’d always been a controlling sadist before this, but could have been considered misguided. That’s until she drives Billy (the Brad Dourif character) to suicide by threatening to tell his mother he’d slept with a woman. This prompts McMurphy to attack Ratched and – tellingly – not one of the patients helps her. Eventually the staff subdue the anti-hero and it’s eventually revealed the nurse ordered him lobotomised for his earlier actions. Talk about extreme measures.
There’s a bittersweet finale where the Chief kills the vegetative McMurphy out of pity and uses a hydrotherapy fountain – as Randle suggested earlier – to pull off a dramatic breakout. So, a final happy scene to a tragic conclusion. As for Nurse Ratched, she survives with only a neck injury, and with McMurphy gone she’s very much back in charge of her patients. This is one villainess victory nobody will want to root for.
Video Review
Honourable Mention (Unranked)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006) – Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep)
To show I’m considering villainesses from all sources, I’m delving into an area I’m hardly a subject matter expert in: women’s fashion. It’s debatable whether Meryl Streep’s “Dragon Lady” boss is actually a villain at all. She’d make a fine presenter of The Apprentice, but her acts are more ruthless than outright evil, and she even comes to respect the main character Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway).
It doesn’t start out that way. Andrea is a fresh out of college graduate who shows up completely unprepared for a job interview with no knowledge whatsoever of the fashion industry. Hardly good credentials for an assistant role, but her defiant moral speech is enough to get Miranda’s attention and so she takes a chance. That’s about the only break she gives Andrea though, since this boss is akin to a slave driver and literally has employees running around the New York office to meet her endless list of barely comprehensible demands.
Andrea isn’t exactly popular among the other employees given her unfashionable dress sense, and her relationship with fellow assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) is frosty to say the least. After quite a few mishaps, Andrea embraces the role and a whole new wardrobe, literally becoming a new woman, which leads to friction with her unsupportive friends. However, despite all the high society events Andrea is uncomfortable with Miranda’s ruthless streak, especially when she promises a job to her assistant Nigel only to hand it to a rival to save her own skin. That’s about as villainous as it gets with Miranda – welcome to the world of cut-throat business.
The movie ends with Andrea finally quitting her job, but Miranda is shown to be happy for her and gives her a positive reference. So maybe a tough experience was exactly what this young lady needed to further her career. But if you’re after a lighter take on female authority figures than One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this movie is worth a look.
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