The TWILIGHT Saga phenomenon - my chronicles - Part II a

Book 1 - TWILIGHT
Having seen the movie first, it was nice to know the filmmakers did try to stick as closely to the book as possible by opening with the same lines and scenes. I was pleased to find that Bella's voice was just as clear in my head while reading as it was hearing Kristen Stewart.

And this is where the movie and book start to diverge...

The best parts about the book was getting the full descriptions about how Bella felt about herself and about Edward and their encounters. The author does a good job of putting these emotions into words which translate into feelings when read by the reader. To me, every word in relation to Bella and Edward was the highlight of each scene of each chapter.

So why did the movie fail in this area? For instance - the movie glosses over the scenes in the meadow with a pseudo-montage showing the growing bond between the couple. Why not have the audience join in by hearing their dialogue? It is the conversations between Bella and Edward the really draws you in.

Another lost opportunity is after their first kiss in the film. Again, we see that Edward stays the night talking with her until she falls asleep. Instead of letting us in by being a part of their discussions, we only get to see them at a glance which is a total letdown and a huge missed opportunity for giving the (book) fans what they want - Bella and Edward interaction!

Casting the film was also an issue which becomes more evident as you read the other books and become more familiar with the characters. A lot of complaints were that the vampires were not attractive enough. While this may sound unfair, in light of having read the books, it's sort of true. Meyer describes the vampires as being otherworldly beautiful - not just in face but in their graceful movements and the musical quality of their voices. Altering the sound of the actors voices might have been a stretch for moviegoers, but picking actors who are "better looking" might have been a good idea.

Nothing personal against Nikki Reed, but Rosalie is supposed to be drop dead gorgeous. While Nikki Reed is attractive, her look in the film would hardly cause traffic to come to a halt. Rosalie Cullen's mere appearance on the street would.

The best choice for me had to be Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen. She embodied her well as the perfectly odd but adorable pixie-like vampire.

In terms of the liberties the movie took to "jazz up" the book to the big screen, I thought those elements were poorly handled. For instance, the scene where Bella leads Edward into the forest where she confronts him that she knows he is a vampire - why try to drum up any fear? Any reader of the books knows that Edward will never hard Bella, and if the movie is trying to lure in non-readers, giving them false pretenses of carnage that never comes to fruition will only annoy those who came in thinking it could offer a horror element.

There was never any sense that Edward would harm her, no matter how much he thirsted for her blood. The real revelation here is how tortured Edward is - not any real threat against her life. So why pretend? And if you want to tease it for trailers, do a separate trailer! (In fact, let me digress a second here - I remember when movies used to have trailers that were not in the movie itself. Granted, it could have been deleted from the final product, but I LOVED the fact that the trailer gave you a sense of the film but didn't give away anything. Why not shoot things like that? Nowadays, movies give away the best scenes or the best jokes in the trailers so it doesn't have the punch it should be when watching the film.)

Also, Edward and his crazy eyes, as previously mentioned - a lot of scenes called for him to look intense or pained, but he just looked... crazy! His eyes are wide, and there is no reflection of what's on his mind. On this part, I feel the director should have stepped in for other shots, asking Robert to try some different "looks." And if he did provide others, then Hardwicke should have used those during editing (or can we blame the editor here. Not really, since the final vision is on the director - always).

But in the end, I think anyone who has seen the movies and are interested in it for the love story angle will find the book way more interesting. I sure did.