“Twilight”
D: Catherine Hardwicke
S: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson
MANILA, Philippines—When you can live forever, what do you live for? Isabella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) discover the answer when their paths cross at Washington State’s Forks High School. But, the star-crossed lovers at the heart of “Twilight,” director Catherine Hardwicke’s highly anticipated adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling supernatural romance novel, are not your usual pimply high school juniors:
Seventeen-year-old Bella is wise beyond her age. She has just moved from sunny Phoenix, Arizona, some 2,000 kilometers away to live with her father, police chief Charlie (Billy Burke), in the rainy northwest to give her newly remarried mom some space.
To her relief, Bella is welcomed by Fork High’s teenage habitués with open arms—except the gorgeous but aloof Edward and his equally mysterious “siblings,” Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie, who keep to themselves. But, Meyer’s attractive protagonists are destined to meet.
Penetrating glances
Sparks don’t necessarily fly when Bella comes face to face with Edward for the first time. However, the disturbingly penetrating glances the latter throws her way pique the pretty transfer student’s curiosity—and ego—especially after they find themselves seated beside each other in biology class, and Edward rushes out of the room, seemingly repulsed by the way Bella smells! What a way to make a great first impression, right?
After Edward saves her from street thugs and a wayward truck, Bella realizes there’s more to the “teenage” quintet than their pale, good looks and strict “vegetarian” diet: They’re vampires, and dashing Edward is actually—17 going on 109! In no time, romance blooms between the unlikely couple. Unfortunately, fate rarely bestows happy endings on forbidden love stories like theirs.
But, the heart has a way of defying seemingly insurmountable odds, and Bella soon finds herself basking in Edward’s protective arms, especially after a trio of blood-sucking nomadic vampires—James (Cam Gigandet), Victoria (Rachelle Lefèvre) and Laurent (Edi Gathegi)—comes crashing in, and their ravenous appetite for human blood and mischief threatens to expose the Cullens’ real identity and wreak havoc on their peaceful coexistence with humans.
Worse, Bella’s irresistible scent “inspires” James to initiate a game of predator and prey, in which Edward’s susceptible girlfriend is the succulent prize. But, not if Edward can help it!
Can the love between a human and a vampire transcend their physiological differences—and dietary requirements? Ask Anne Rice.
Mythology
Lush photography, a dreamy backdrop, an irresistible story about forbidden love and a talented cast that’s easy on the eyes make Hardwicke’s faithful screen adaptation of Meyer’s vampire mythology accessible to viewers of all types and ages. She dramatizes the story’s metaphorical undertow without overtly preachifying its themes and moral about teenage repression, abstinence and the importance of family.
The appearance of the good-looking baddies, who sashay like thirsty runway models before a kill, feels more like a narrative device to move a story that loses much of its tension when the Capulets and Montagues of this fictional world find a resolution to their wards’ romantic dilemma.
But, it’s easy to disregard the thinness of its premise because of the empathetic performances and sizzling screen chemistry of Stewart and Pattinson, who sink their teeth into their familiar roles.
If you’re the romantic sort, the sweeping grandeur of “Twilight’s” love story will draw you in—as it did the bevy of swooning and sighing female viewers behind us. When Edward is left without a choice but to take his first bite, one of them gasped happily: “Bite me!” Who knew vampires could be so mushy?
But, which cynical female—teenage or otherwise—isn’t moved when the Cullens’ youthful patriarch, Carlisle (Peter Facinelli), reminds the stubborn Rosalie: “We have to protect Bella—she’s now family!” Aww, shucks. There goes the box office.
