Twilight (The Movie)

* Bibliographic information
Hardwicke, C. (Director). (2009). Twilight [Motion Picture]. United States: Summit
Entertainment. ISBN: 025192022272 Starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson


* Plot Summary
Bella has just moved to Forks, Washington to live wither Dad who she has barely seen in the past few years. She left her mom, her friends and, sunny Phoenix to move to a cold damp place where the sun hardly ever shows. Bella likes living wither Dad but hates everything cold. That is until she falls in love with Edward; a cold undead vampire. When Edward saves her from being crushed by a van by using his strength she knows he is different and will stop at nothing to find out why. Once she has learned the truth she must then deal with the stares at school as everyone see her walk in with the best looking guy at school, the stares from his vampire siblings who do not approve and if that was not enough she has to keep from getting killed by a group of new deadly vampires in town.


* Critical Evaluation
Twilight is a very beautiful movie about true passionate love. I got hooked on the movie and then had to read the book. The movie, except for a few small details, is very close to the book. Hardwicke does a great job of creating this dreary world that Bella is experiencing before she falls for Edward. She has friends at school but is not really there when she is with them. The tension between Edward and Bella has to be there for the story to work the way it does in the book and the stars of the movie definitely convey this. The relationship between Edward and Bella is so passionate and electric in the book and this movie does a great job of creating that on the screen; that is why so many people have watched it again and again. This movie created a huge phenomenon that will carry into the other movies in the saga as well.


* Reader’s Annotation
They say love is blind, but what do you do when the person you love is a vampire who struggles everyday with the urge not to kill you?


* Information about the director
Hardwicke makes low budget type films; this was her first movie to become so huge and popular. Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown were directed by her and both were highly acclaimed. She currently has three projects in the works including a film adaptation of Hamlet. She grew up in Texas and went to the UCLA film school in the 1980s.


* Genre
Fantasy


* Curriculum Ties, if any
N/A


* Movie Discussion Ideas
1) Have you read the book, do you think they story was portrayed accurately in the movie?
2) Why do you think Jacob ends up telling Bella the myth about “the cold ones”? Do you think he had secret motives?
3) Most people either fear the Cullens or think they are weird, why do you think Bella’s Dad thinks they are good people?
4) At the end of the movie, Victoria is shown spying on Edward and Bella at the dance, talk about what she might do next.


* Interest Age
13 and Up / PG-13


* Challenge Issues and Defense
N/A


* Why did you include this movie in your titles you selected?
I love this movie; I had to include it. After seeing it I got obsessed just like every teenager who saw it. I read the books and I eagerly wait to see the other movies made with this saga. This movie has become such a phenomenon that to exclude it from this collection would not make any sense. Right now this is one of the most popular movies for teens, only second to New Moon, its sequel.