TWILIGHT (2008)

(November 2008, U.S.)

Just a quick note that I intentionally identify the year of this film as 2008 so as not to confuse it with the 1998 Robert Benton film of the same name with Paul Newman and Susan Sarandon.

By all accounts, there's no reason in the world for me to like a movie like TWILIGHT.  To begin with, I'm not a young adult in high school, and with the exception of the Harry Potter series, I have little-to-no interest in popular series of fiction that's very popular with young adults (including my son) like THE HUNGER GAMES or DIVERGENT series.  Second, vampire films are about a dime a dozen ever since the first adaptation of Bram Stoker's DRACULA, and after a while, if you've seen one, you've seen nearly all of them.

So why the attraction to a movie like TWILIGHT?  I mean, it's not like Kristen Stewart is naked in this movie (unfortunately).  I'm also not a young woman with a crush on  a guy like Robert Pattinson.  So there must be something I deem worthy behind this introductory film to what eventually becomes a series of its own.  Let's see if we can't figure it out together.

Stewart plays Bella Swan, a seventeen year-old outcast from Phoenix, Arizona who's just moved to the small town of Forks in the state of Washington to live with her father, the town's chief of police.  She manages to make friends at her new high school easily, but is surprised to find that the school's heartthrob Edward Cullen is practically physically repulsed by her.  Angered, yet intrigued, she seeks to learn why Cullen is keeping his distance from her, even as he repeatedly tries to talk to her.  Days later, Bella is nearly hit by a skidding van in the school parking lot when Edward instantaneously covers the distance between her and his own car and saves her by stopping the van with just his hand.  Refusing to explain how he did that, he warns her against befriending her.  Of  course, she doesn't listen.  Her native American friend Jacob tells her a tale of a long-standing animosity between the Cullen family and his own, citing that the Cullens are not permitted on his reservation.

After some stubborn research, Bella concluded that Edward's mysterious powers are identical to that of the traditional vampire.  He doesn't deny this when confronted by her, buy says that he and his family are like vampire "vegetarians" who only consume animal blood, and not people's.  However, there are three other nomadic vampires out there who aren't so kind, having already eaten two of the local town folks.  Of course Edward and Bella fall in love, and it's now his obligation to keep her safe from those who would eat her for dinner, while keeping the secret of his own identity and his family's.  In the film's climax at an old ballet studio, Bella is attacked and infected with vampire venom.  After a ferocious battle, Edward saves her from becoming a vampire herself by sucking out the venom, but has to control his impulsive nature to devour her completely.  The film ends rather sweetly with the high school prom, but the door is already open for what will continue in four more films.

So, my not being a reader of the TWILIGHT series of books, it's important to note my reasons for being attracted to the first as a stand-alone film.  The reason is simple in that the film in its own way is simple.  Rather than overplay the card in which most fans would demand a whole lot of overblown action and special effects, the film recognizes the style of taking its time to not only introduce us to a series of mysterious characters, but to carefully explore the mystery of who Edward Cullen is (we already know, of course), what makes him exist the way he is, and what the dangers inherently are of him falling in love with a mortal young woman like Bella.  The film doesn't pretend to be an action thriller, but rather a troubled romance, and I think I'm able to totally appreciate and understand that.  It conveys the magic and the miracle of meeting that one special person you've been waiting for who truly moves you.  Some of us never see that sort of magic in real life.  Or if we do, it doesn't always last forever (amazing how a movie about vampires can teach a life lesson or two).

Favorite line or dialogue:

Bella Swan: "About three things I was absolutely certain.  First, Edward was a vampire.  Second, there was a part of him, and I didn't know how potent that part might be, that thirsted for my blood.  And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."