- Published: September 16, 2022
- Updated: September 16, 2022
- University / College: King's College London
- Language: English
- Downloads: 37
Love conquers all, an old byword says, and the recent novel adaptation, the famous Twilight Saga is a perfect proof for the fact that true love cannot be defeated. Rendering a number of ideas and topics, the movie offers a plethora of food for thoughts and provides a detailed description of a completely different world – the world of vampires.
Even though the movie balances between a fairytale and a real-life story, there can be no possible doubt that the Twilight Saga offers a modern interpretation of the famous Shakespearean play; however, taking less time, timeless classics proves to be doubtlessly deeper and more complex.
Basing partially on the plot of Romeo and Juliet story and partially on the problems that modern teenagers face, The Twilight Saga offers a number of issues that are quite topical nowadays, such as the hardships of being different, and dwells upon the great Everlasting Love and the famous Happily Ever After, yet is seemingly shallow in dealing with each of the issues.
The movie sends the audience into a typical American setting, where a typical American teenage girl meets a mysterious young man of her age. The latter turns out to be a vampire, yet belonging to the family of “ vegetarian” ones, consuming the blood of animals only. Naturally, the young people fall in love, yet the gang of “ bad” cannibal vampires arrive to kill Bella and her family. However, the young people save the day, and the movie ends with the couple dancing and one of the enemy vampire girls casts an envious look at Bella.
Telling the story of the touching relationships between a young girl, Bella, and her new acquaintance, mysterious Edward, who further on proves to be an incarnation of Count Dracula, a dreadful vampire, is quite enticing.
However, one must admit that the idea of mixing the incompatible beings into a love story is already dead at the arrival, since the idea of comprising the incompatible presupposes certain element of motion and activity, which the movie lacks, thus, making the plot more narrowed.
Does being a vampire presuppose being a dawdling silent dummy? Edward is suffering, but he does nothing. Bella is suffering, but she does nothing. Edward’s family sees the threat that the main characters are facing – but they do nothing. It seems that the movie will reach its climax as the entire world follows the lead characters and will be sitting twiddling their thumbs.
Despite the numerous flaws in showing the development of the characters, it is impossible to deny the obvious advantages of the movie. One of the major points about the simple and rather sentimental story is the fact that it deals with the detailed descriptions of the daily life of teenagers.
The scene involving the bullies is, sadly enough, quite a widespread situation that any child studying in public educational establishments has to face sooner or later. In addition, the portrayal of Bella’s and Edward’s falling in love for the first time in their life arrests the attention of the teenagers who have faced the same complexities – or, would it be better to say, moments of happiness?
In addition, the movie touches upon the issue that troubles most young people as they are about to cross the threshold between the childhood and the adult life, which is the problem of being different; however, the issues are mentioned far too briefly.
Though the problem could have been told in a more subtle way, depicting the hardships and the ordeals of being a vampire – moreover, a vegetarian vampire! – comes quite close to discussing the problems of being an outcast among the classmates, or any other social group which teenagers are so dependent on.
You are a vampire, and that is what makes you different. You are a vampire, and that makes you guilty. You are a vampire, and you do not deserve to be a part of the society. No matter how hard you will be lurking in the shadow, people will see you. You see, people do not like those who are different from the rest. The movie captures the very essence of the problem and develops it until it becomes grotesquely huge.
With the two topic intertwined, the movie cannot help causing contradictory reactions; however, the romantic relationships between a girl and a vampire, as well as the problem of being different, are never considered close enough.
The story of Romeo and Juliet, sugared with the grotesquely happy ending, is intertwined with the fears of an average teenager, which makes the movie attractive for the latter. This is a seemingly sweet sentimental story with several subplots, simple and strange. Altogether, these features make the movie enticing for the target audience.
The plot of the story is quite complex; however, the charming chant of cheerful angels at the end of each episode of the saga seems somewhat out of place, which makes the story less cohesive.
In addition, the attempt to break the plot of the Shakespearean tragedy seems quite forced, which makes the movie weaker and less credible. Though the meaningful look that one of the vampire girls casts on the leading characters dancing in complete delight does send shivers down the spectators’ spines, there is still a tangible lack of the thrill in the way the movie ends.
Allowing people to feel the atmosphere of the fairytale come true for a change, the movie, thus, obtains an unrealistic hue, which distorts the overall impression. However, it should be marked that there can hardly be anything realistic about a movie that tells the story of a vampire.
Offering a peculiar interpretation of Romeo and Juliet Story and incorporating the elements of the Count Dracula, the movie still follows its own, teenager-friendly topics, which makes it genuine and new, yet makes the movie linger between drama and fantasy. Though Twilight Saga cannot be considered as classic read, read classic Romeo and Juliet, and you will feel that the interpretation is worth taking a look at.
