Dir. Catherine Hardwicke, US, 2008, 122 mins
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Peter Facinelli, Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone
Review by Joyce Dundas
This tween phenomenon finally makes it to the big screen dragging more baggage behind it than a 300-year-old vampire. Stephenie Meyer’s books, and particularly their enigmatic hero Edward Cullen, have had young girls’ hearts beating faster with each new instalment. The film version of the first book, Twilight , is seeking to introduce its two young lovers to an expanded audience. As such it falls into the trap of any first instalment, introducing the characters and their back story to the audience slows the film to snail’s pace in the first act. That’s not to say the film doesn’t deliver to its intended audience, it does. It is older viewers who will find the coy flirting and repetitive dialogue rather wearing.
Bella Swan (Stewart) is our smart young heroine. She has decided to live with her dad as her mum’s life with new baseball-playing boyfriend is much too peripatetic for her liking. Heading back to Forks, a tiny town in the rainy (perfect vampire weather), but stunningly beautiful Pacific Northwest, Bella settles into life at her new high school, quickly becoming extremely popular as the new-kid-in-town. During one gossipy lunch she is made aware of the strange Cullen family and their even stranger family set-up. All adopted children of the town doctor, they are insular, seem to have romantic relationships with each other and are definitely exotic looking.
Edward (Pattinson) is the loner in the family, he has no obvious romantic relationship even though his effect on teenage girls is instant and overpowering, though his Shakin’ Stevens’ bouffant-style looks a little odd at times. He is paired in biology class with Bella and their flirtation begins. And this is where it starts to get a little irritating. Bella is obviously a savvy girl, smart in class and intuitive in her personal life. She is sensitive and intelligent in her dealings with her parents and obviously mature for her years, so how can it be so hard for her to see that the pale, beautiful, golden-eyed creature, whose skin is several degrees below zero, is a vampire. It takes her several google searches, a tip from a Native American and a trip to a specialist bookshop to work out what the audience can see from the first glimpse of him. Vampires are now the cool, streetwise creature of Buffy fame, if, as we are asked to believe, Bella is a contemporary heroine, she would have known too.
However, you can forgive the film for this. It means we see their relationship develop and his explanation of what type of predator he is, becomes one of the highlights of the film. It is the repetitiveness of Bella’s imperceptive behaviour that irks, why can’t she just grasp that he can read minds and move on for heaven’s, or afterlife’s, sake. There are also some really cheesy moments and way too many close-ups of Edward’s coloured contacts.
When the action really starts and the Cullen family are threatened by a rival gang of bloodsuckers the feud ignited, of course, by Bella’s presence the film shows you what these dangerous predators are capable of. Only then does it enter the dark exciting territory of Angel, Buffy and Spike, or even Bram Stoker.
The celebration of teen abstinence is underplayed, though it is there, well of course he can’t get too excited. There has always been the link between blood and lust when vampires are in the mix, and when her mum asks her if she is being safe with her new beau, the line works on several levels. It is not lost on an HIV aware audience. However, it is the very recipe of love and death that has so obsessed the teenage fans of the books and it works on the same poignant level here.
The script really could have been much tighter, though there are some knowledgeable double entendres , but the cinematography cannot be faulted and the mise-en-scène in the Cullen’s house is incredibly well thought out.
he end leads neatly into the second in the saga, which is already in production. And you do feel that Bella’s father (Burke) knows more than he is telling about the mysterious Cullen family which it would be interesting to explore. Twilight suffers from opening night jitters but as the evenings pass on Bella and Edward’s story the saga should improve. They are certainly interesting in that their love-story, though extremely unique in one way, is just like most teens in others.
