Stephenie Meyer’s swooning 2005 young adult novel, told from the perspective of a Bella Swan who sees herself as a geeky duckling, reaches past the post-modern irony of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to embrace Victorian era romance. It’s all about forbidden love and keeping those overwhelming urges buttoned up tight. Director Catherine Hardwicke transforms Twilight into an engaging mash-up: a coming of age adventure fable that’s at once ancient and modern.

Since her breakthrough film, Thirteen (2003), Hardwicke has dealt with tumultuous teens (Lords of Dogtown) and otherworldly narratives (The Nativity Story), and is ideally suited for Twilight. She’s equally adept at portraying the flush of first love Bella (Kristen Stewart) feels for the magnetic, aloof Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) as well as the startling moment this smart, solitary heroine realizes that her beloved bad boy is actually a vampire.

Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter) opens up Twilight from the insularity of the besotted Bella’s first person narration (with its perpetual Edward worship), and makes the rainy small town of Forks, Washington into a viable community instead of just a misty backdrop. (The film was shot in neighboring Oregon.) Hardwick incorporates action and suspense while keeping the story grounded in two key settings: the high school and the dense surrounding woods.

The supernatural elements aside, Twilight is a Pretty in Pink romance about the outsider girl and unattainable boy set in an evergreen Pacific Northwest, and Catherine Hardwick never forgets the squealing teens who’ve made Stephenie Meyer’s books so successful. The school sequences crackle with the knowledge that everyone is watching every move Bella and Edward make, the intensity heightened by an undercurrent of distrust for Dr. Carlisle Cullen (Peter Facinelli) and his adopted brood.

But it’s in the primordial privacy of the old growth forest that this odd couple find common ground; the clumsy girl surprised by her own bravery and the lovestruck bloodsucker who wants to eat her up, but abstains. Vampire movies are about sexual hunger above all, and it’s the combustible chemistry between Kristen Stewart’s chilled Bella and Robert Pattinson’s cold-blooded Edward that gives their chaste coupling its heat. Even when the story gets flighty, they keep Twilight grounded.

Cinematographer Eliott Davis (Out of Sight) beautifully captures the region’s cloud-filtered light, and the effect is both ethereal and hyper-real. It’s a perfect environment for a vampire who doesn’t sleep and a girl who can’t believe she isn’t dreaming when she’s awake.

© 2008, Serena Donadoni. All rights reserved.

Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Writer: Melissa Rosenberg | Adapted from the novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer | Cinematography: Eliott Davis | Music: Carter Burwell | Costume Design: Wendy Chuck | Editing: Nancy Richardson | Producers: Greg Mooradian, Mark Morgan and Wyck Godfrey | Released by Summit Entertainment | Running time: 121 minutes | Rated PG-13

Cast: Kristen Stewart (Bella Swan), Robert Pattison (Edward Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan), Sarah Clarke (Renee), Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen), Elizabeth Reaser (Esme Cullen), Nikki Reed (Rosalie Cullen), Kellan Lutz (Emmet Cullen), Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen), Jackson Rathbone (Jasper Cullen), Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black), Gil Birmingham (Billy Black), Cam Gigandet (James), Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria), Edi Gathegi (Laurent), Anna Kendrick (Jessica), Christian Serratos (Angela), Gregory Tyree Boyce (Tyler), Justin Chon (Eric), Michael Welch (Mike Newton), Jose Zuniga (Mr. Molina), Ayanna Berkshire (Cora), Ned Bellamy (Waylon Forge), Matt Bushell (Phil), and Catherine Grimme (Young Bella).