DARK
MIRACLE: BELLA AND EDWARD MARRY
IN THE PENULTIMATE
“TWILIGHT” FILM
by
Bennett Campbell Ferguson
Left: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as the star-crossed lovers
Right at the beginning of "Breaking Dawn Part 1", Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finally marries her beloved, the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). It's time for toasts and first up is Bella's dad, Charlie (Billy Burke). Is he worried about his daughter being wed at eighteen? Not at all. "I know Edward will be a great husband," he grumblingly tells the guests, "because I'm a cop and I know how to hunt people to the ends of the Earth."
It's a rueful half jest, but I almost
wished he would. Through three movies (gray-green "Twilight", golden
"New Moon", and incoherent "Eclipse") they flirted and
played out their kisses quietly in each other's bedrooms. Edward may have been
frozen at seventeen for a hundred years, but they both seemed and looked like
kids.
They still do in "Breaking
Dawn" and while they love each other, their marriage is a queasy affair.
Post-wedding, Edward escorts Bella through the streets of Rio, which are full
noise, dancing, and joyful chatter. Everything feels casual and happy, but then
it's off to a desserted island to make love and prepare for the inevitable--if
Bella is to remain with Edward, she must be transformed into a vampire.
The ultimate test of how you feel about
this story may be how you feel about Bella and Edward. Is it really worth it
for her to leave everything, to become immortal, to be with him? Behind their
obvious affection for each other, which is awkward yet desperate, is their
really love?
Honestly, I'm not sure. It is sickening
to see Bella embroiled in this crisis, but could the series have gone any other
direction? It began with first dates and kisses so for better or worse, it
makes sense that the beginning of the end should be about marriage and
ultimately, birth.
"Breaking Dawn" is awash with
nastiness, even as the visual beauty of the series reaches its greatest point
of clarity (the gleaming, multilayered cinema palace where Edward murders a man
is just one of many fantastic sights). There's passionately gross sex, sickly
facades, and finally, a baby being cut out of someone's stomach. There's also
plenty of wooden acting but that was never particularly distracting in the
previous films and it isn't here.
In moments of love, life, and death,
you feel hope, caring, and anger acutely.
It comes from Jacob (Taylor Lautner), who can't act on his love for
Bella but still does everything he can to protect her and also from Edward,
whose disgust at Bella's pregnancy ("Carlisle will get that thing out of
you") is cold yet understandable.
Those moments are moving and shivery, paving the way towards the emotionally
powerful conclusion in "Breaking Dawn Part 2".
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