The contemporary love story between human and vampire continues to capture the hearts of audiences in both novel and film. However, close comparison reveals the film is not as comparable to the novel as it may seem. The plot line in the film remains consistent to that of the novel. Where some of the dialogue is changed, the flow of the conversation remains familiar to the novel.

The tension between Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson) and Isabella Swan, or Bella (Kristen Stewart), is tame in the film in comparison with the best-selling novel. Pattinson dazzled “Twilight” fans with Edward’s “crooked smile” and “masochistic lion” tendencies, two descriptions drawn directly from the novel. He portrayed the “cold one,” as written in the novel, torturing himself in order to be close to Bella.

An interesting difference between the two mediums was the conversationalist writing and the virtual nonexistence of conversation in the film, especially between the main characters. The relationship between Edward and Bella is founded on curiosity and an insistence on gathering information about each other. The scene in the meadow, a monumental point in Edward and Bella’s relationship, is inconsistent in the film as the only communication between the two is without words, which does not stay true to Bella’s (or Edward’s) inquisitive nature. However, the chemistry and tension between Edward and Bella is an accurate interpretation of their relationship in the novel. They are haunted by the dangers of getting too close to each other. Edward is perpetually afraid of losing control of his vampire instincts and hurting Bella. Bella is afraid of pushing Edward away by getting too close. So they are stuck in a cautionary awkwardness that makes readers (and viewers) chuckle.

The Cullen family, the coven of vampires disguised as an adoptive family, maintains their mysterious and alluring image in the film version as in the novel. While most of the details of their lives force them to be secretive, their home showcases them as they are: constructed with more glass than paneling. The interior of the Cullen’s home is not white in the film as it is in the novel, which was to signify the Cullen’s innocent lifestyle in comparison to other vampires. “It is the only place we can truly be ourselves,” says Edward when he brings Bella to formally meet his family. Their favorite game is the all-American pastime, baseball, which they only play during thunderstorms to decrease their risk of discovery even though they live far from the center of the town of Forks.

The tense rivalry between the Quileutes pack and the Cullen coven is a main theme of the novel that made its way briefly to the screen. The negative connotation of the phrase “cold ones” that Quileute legends apply to the Cullen family emphasizes the tension Bella is caught between: the concern for her safety from Billy Black, her father’s best friend, and her boyfriend.

In cutting a 550-page novel to fit into such a short time frame as two hours, it is no wonder there are differences. One could go on for hours about the minor differences but the basis of the story remains. One thing is not lost in translation: “Twilight” is a modern love story that throws two people in a tornado of difficult choices.

MEGAN LACEY
Staff Writer