Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My first movie review - Twilight
I am compelled to write about Twilight. I haven't read the book yet, but after seeing the movie, I want to read the book(s). At first glance, the movie, is an average love story between cute boy (Cedric Diggory lives!!!) and cute girl with a twist. Set in a picturesque Washington town - towering pines, dewey light, moss covered hills and bejewelled lakes, the movie has this dream like quality to it. Even the brightest sunlight looks greyer than it normally would - softened from its harshness by the cast of love.
Love is everywhere. In the soft-spoken words between school-mates, the unspoken feelings between father and daughter, the transparent vibes between members of the Cullen family. So why does this seemingly average Hollywood movie capture the heart of this 30 something author? One - I don't get out much... Two - this movie took me back to a time and place where I was instantly reliving the raging hormones of my teenage years - not in lust, but in love. The idea of true love perpetuates every scene in this movie and took hold of my aching heart for two whole hours.
Ahh! True love, as true as the first time we love, as true as the first time we kissed and the first time we thought our hearts would drown under the weight of it all - the passion, the ecstacy, the build-up, the denouement. What I love most of all, is that this is portrayed as pristinely as possible, with no vulgarity or prominent sexuality that would have just transformed this movie into one of those raunchy teen flicks.
I love the pureness of her love (although I'm sure she'll tire of it soon! :0)). I love the need and urgency of his love - his desire to be something else for a change, something different from the dark reality of his life. I love the impossible unattainability of it all -- the hunter and the hunted as one, the lion and the lamb as one, the vampire and his prey as one.
As for someone who has not read the book(s) as yet, I hope the book(s) or any future sequels to come will not implode into an inferno of sex and gore- mindless titillations well accomplished by half the teen and adult movies out there. I hope they capture this magical, mindless moment in all its ethereal beauty without it fading or dimming into oblivion.
"What about me?" you may ask. I'm just glad that I'm not a teenager anymore, glad that I'm not going to bed with impossible dreams about wanting to marry Robert Pattinson or wanting to write to him or wishing to see him or tear off his shirt or get his autograph - like millions of teens out there may be thinking. I'm just glad that for two hours, I was a teenager again, wishing, hoping, feeling heartache, remembering when I was last like this with fond reminiscence, as I know, in the bright light of the day, I will not feel like this again - thankfully!
Love is everywhere. In the soft-spoken words between school-mates, the unspoken feelings between father and daughter, the transparent vibes between members of the Cullen family. So why does this seemingly average Hollywood movie capture the heart of this 30 something author? One - I don't get out much... Two - this movie took me back to a time and place where I was instantly reliving the raging hormones of my teenage years - not in lust, but in love. The idea of true love perpetuates every scene in this movie and took hold of my aching heart for two whole hours.
Ahh! True love, as true as the first time we love, as true as the first time we kissed and the first time we thought our hearts would drown under the weight of it all - the passion, the ecstacy, the build-up, the denouement. What I love most of all, is that this is portrayed as pristinely as possible, with no vulgarity or prominent sexuality that would have just transformed this movie into one of those raunchy teen flicks.
I love the pureness of her love (although I'm sure she'll tire of it soon! :0)). I love the need and urgency of his love - his desire to be something else for a change, something different from the dark reality of his life. I love the impossible unattainability of it all -- the hunter and the hunted as one, the lion and the lamb as one, the vampire and his prey as one.
As for someone who has not read the book(s) as yet, I hope the book(s) or any future sequels to come will not implode into an inferno of sex and gore- mindless titillations well accomplished by half the teen and adult movies out there. I hope they capture this magical, mindless moment in all its ethereal beauty without it fading or dimming into oblivion.
"What about me?" you may ask. I'm just glad that I'm not a teenager anymore, glad that I'm not going to bed with impossible dreams about wanting to marry Robert Pattinson or wanting to write to him or wishing to see him or tear off his shirt or get his autograph - like millions of teens out there may be thinking. I'm just glad that for two hours, I was a teenager again, wishing, hoping, feeling heartache, remembering when I was last like this with fond reminiscence, as I know, in the bright light of the day, I will not feel like this again - thankfully!
