I love movie scenes where opposing sides draw up on the field of battle, then on some cue, just go at each other. I’m not a huge fan of violence, but the sense of mayhem can be sort of bracing. Think of the opening of Gangs of New York, or those scenes in Westerns where they’re in a saloon and everyone seems to be minding their own business, but as soon as one cowpoke breaks a chair over another cowpoke’s head, the place just spontaneously erupts in a brawl that everyone seemed primed for, where each individual seems to have his own somewhat inscrutable agenda.
