Editorial Bear Recommends: "Dissecting Twilight by Militant Ginger"
Like Harry Potter before it, it seemed like the incredibly hyped
Twilight saga could never be translated to the movie screen without a cacophony of criticism - but director Catherine Hardwicke actually does a very respectable job.
Just as in
the novel by Stephanie Meyer, the
movie of Twilight opens with transplanted teen Bella adjusting to her new life in rainy Forks, Wa. It's a long way from the blazing sunshine of Arizona that she's used to.
Bella, played rather morosely by Kristen Stewart, seems like an intensely unlikeable girl - rude, dismissive and practically monosyllabic. Yet she effortlessly attracts the friendship of the school's cool 'clique,' plus the eye of sullen, solitary Edward Cullen - the high school heart-throb who all the girls in Forks are lusting after.
After a tedious courtship, Bella discovers the truth about Edward - he and his family are vampires, living in seclusion and surviving off a 'vegetarian' diet of woodland animals. Bella worms her way into the affections of Edward's family and they're the ones she turns too when a roguish trio of bloodthirsty bloodsuckers roll up in town with Bella on the top of their 'to bite' list.
The Cullen Clan - Hitler's Aryan ambitions finally find fruition. is a fun, flimsy fantasy. It's a fairly faithful adaptation of the novel, but because the book was so emotive and introspective, it leaves the final script feeling a little lightweight. Some of the plotting is jiggled about to make the arrival of the 'bad' vampires more ominous, but the ending still feels like a bit of an anti-climax. The bad vampire, James, is grossly outnumbered by Edward's family and that deflates the dramatic tension.
Bad vampire 'James' makes a very bad decision picking a fight against all five CullensMuch better is the cinematography - Hardwicke makes use of Washington's rainswept beauty almost reverentially. The screen comes alive with green and grey and you can almost smell the fresh rain and pine needles as you watch it.
Washington State - very pretty (but don't forget your umbrella)Robert Pattinson, the quintessential teen-throb playing Edward, is also excellent. Despite being a British actor, best known for playing ill-fated student Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter saga, Pattinson's American accent is flawless and he broods with sizzling intensity.
Catherine Hardwicke's loyalty to the source material actually highlights some of the flaws in the Twilight saga. Bella and Edward's love affair seems trite and inconsequential, while the emphasis on physical beauty and material possessions seems rather shallow (Edward drives a sexy
Volvo C30 and his family live in a gorgeous
Skylab Architecture house.)
The 'Hoke' house by Skylab Architecture. Don't give them a hard time about the landscaping (or lack of it.) If all seven Cullens live in this two bedroom, they're obviously not that well off.Nevertheless, fans of the saga will have already made peace with its more debatable details and will probably be thrilled that the entire movie sticks so closely to the story.
Nobody can deny that Stephanie Meyer's novel resonated with an immense audience - I believe much of what made it popular has been translated into the movie adaptation, too.
Twilight, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, is available from Amazon for $17.99
A few days ago, I blogged about how Britain's most lovable ginger, Rupert Grint, had abandoned his red roots and was threatening to dye his hair, or shave it all off.
