“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (カッコーの巣の上で), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1975, Jack Nicholson, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) H223

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (カッコーの巣の上で), Miloš Forman’s landmark 1975 drama starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, William Redfield, Will Sampson, and Brad Dourif.

One of the most celebrated American films of the 1970s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won the five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. This Japanese poster prominently advertises that extraordinary achievement, making it a highly desirable country-of-release design for one of the defining films of New Hollywood cinema.

Film background
Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, the film follows Randle P. McMurphy, played by Jack Nicholson, a rebellious inmate who is transferred to a psychiatric hospital and begins challenging the rigid authority of Nurse Ratched. The film is a powerful study of freedom, institutional control, conformity, resistance, and human dignity.

Nicholson’s performance became one of the defining roles of his career, while Louise Fletcher’s portrayal of Nurse Ratched remains one of cinema’s most chilling portraits of quiet authority.

Poster design
This Japanese B2 uses a bold and highly effective layout. The upper section features the large white Japanese title カッコーの巣の上で, with the English title ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST printed in small pink lettering above.

The centre of the poster is dominated by an intense black-and-white close-up of Jack Nicholson as McMurphy, seen behind a wire fence. The image powerfully conveys imprisonment, surveillance, and psychological pressure, while Nicholson’s expression gives the design immediate emotional force.

Across the upper image, green Japanese copy reads:

「翔べ、高らかに……魂のふるさとへ——。」

A natural rendering is:

“Fly, proudly… toward the homeland of the soul.”

The awards section at left highlights the film’s major recognition, including its Academy Award sweep and Golden Globe success. Small colour stills across the top introduce the cast and key scenes, while the Towa distribution mark appears at the lower left.

The result is one of the strongest Japanese poster designs for the film: restrained, intense, and beautifully attuned to its themes of confinement and resistance.

Condition
Excellent condition. Please review the photo carefully, as it shows the exact poster for sale.

This is an original Japanese theatrical B2 poster.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

It is over 45 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.