WHEN YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER WHAT DO YOU LIVE FOR?
17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) moves to a small Washington town to live with her father; she falls in love with a boy (Robert Pattinson) who turns out to be a vampire. This film adaptation was much appreciated by the teenage girls who had turned Stephenie Meyer’s novels into a phenomenon. The story may seem unremarkable to non-fans, but Catherine Hardwicke (who depicted teens in Thirteen) finds the right tone; the dreamlike visual effects and the autumnal look of the Washington and Oregon locations also help. Stewart and Pattinson are effective in their breakthroughs.
2008-U.S. 121 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Novel: Stephenie Meyer. Cast: Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan), Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan), Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Gigandet… Anna Kendrick, Taylor Lautner.
Trivia: Followed by four sequels, starting with New Moon (2009).