Cinema in Focus: ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’

The success of the literary series doesn't translate well into film

By Hal Conklin and Denny Wayman | Published on 11.25.2009

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2 Stars — Weak

Based on the four-book The Twilight Saga series by Stephenie Meyer, this is the second book made into film with a third on the way. The books as a series won the 2009 Kids Choice Award and have sold more than 85 million copies. However, the literary success doesn’t translate well into cinema. Directed by Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), the second film is titled New Moon.

Written as a romance novel for children, the insights are shallow and the pace is slow. Using the current popularity of vampires, the film plays off the self-loathing of these self-proclaimed soulless former humans with their perverse addiction to human blood.

However, the Cullen family of vampires is attempting to live their lives without killing humans. The handsome Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) even falls in love with a young human named Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart).

As her name describes, Bella is a beautiful but vulnerable teenager who desperately needs Edward’s love. That is the focus of the story as she is willing to surrender her soul in order to join Edward in his immortal life.

But Edward and his family consider the life of a vampire as not one to ask a person you love to join, which makes Edward’s love one that cannot be fulfilled and so creates the tension of the romantic tale.  When Edward leaves Bella so she can live life as a human, her teen heartbreak is overwhelming.

Into her pain comes a longtime friend, Jake Black (Taylor Lautner), who is also going through the change of his life. We won’t reveal all that change produces except to say that his love for Bella creates the second romantic tension.

In a self-revealing moment of cinema, Bella and her friend Jessica (Anna Kendrick) watch a movie about zombies with Jessica asking if it’s some kind of allegorical message.

That is the question that viewers have about New Moon. Is the author using vampires and werewolves to describe some primitive or universal archetype of romantic fears and desires? Does our mortality get in the way of love? Is love destined to suck the life out of us? Is there a wolf within each of us that is as dangerous as it is powerful?

New Moon moves slowly, but there are moments when the pace quickens, as in the battle scenes between the werewolves and the vampires, or when the vampires are themselves in battle. There is also a moment where self-sacrificing love is heralded. But, if one believes that love is a battlefield, then this film is in support of that twisted notion.

Discussion:

» Why do you believe there is so much current interest in vampires? What do they represent in human life? Do you think there are humans among us who drink human blood? If so, what would cause them to do such a thing?

» The teen angst Bella portrays is fitting for a person her age, but if Edward is older than 100 years old, why would he have a similar angst? Do you believe it is Bella’s unique ability to resist his mind-reading capacity that makes her a person of interest? If you knew every thought of your lover, would that be a help or hindrance?

» Do you believe that love is a battlefield? Why or why not? If not, what do you believe is the source and nature of love?

— Cinema in Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is pastor of Free Methodist Church, 1435 Cliff Drive. For more reviews, visit www.cinemainfocus.com.

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