Across the Universe I recently saw the movie Across the Universe. It's a musical based on America's struggle during the Vietnam War using only Beatles song. Just for the record, it was amazing!!! But I was very impressed by how they portrayed the little violence in the film. There were only a couple of scenes with violence at all, including fighting from the war and a riot in Detroit (that actually happened).

The fighting from the war was shown in a sort of psychedelic way, with images flying across the screen and overlapping each other. You were put in the head of one of the main characters, which was a soldier at the time. It really didn't bring out the typical emotions I feel when I am watching a war scene. It simply showed how much he as a man was changing due to his surroundings, and how fast his life and priorities changed. If it would've been like the past war scenes in movies, I can actually say it wouldn't have affected me as much. Because there are so many war movies out there (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and The Great Raid) that show the same style of fight scenes, I have almost become numb.

The riot scene simply showed the two sides fighting each other. What got me was the involvement and danger one of the main girl characters had in the riot. Of course I became caught up, seeing as I had been learning about her throughout the entire movie.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I liked not getting a racing heart or sitting straight up in my chair because of a violent scene. I liked the impact it had, without being too gory or bloody.  ¶ posted by Brenna at 5:41 PM •