by V Alexander

Created on: October 25, 2009

The film adaptation of the Twilight novel smoothed out the ruffles in the book's pacing. It was as If the book was a first draft and the movie was the finished product. The beginning and the end of the story had excellent pacing that kept the story moving. The middle of the book was slow.
The problem is the novel feels like it was edited by two people. The original editor worked on the beginning and end of the story and the middle was passed off to an intern with a passion for As the World Turns. They could not bare to cut out any of Bella and Edward's repeated, "I love you but I want to leave you for your own safety," moments. Cut out about forty percent of the middle of the book and you still have the same story but with less annoyed fans who just want to get on with it already.

The movie didn't lose the charm of the novel. You get the same characterization as the novel with the nuances of the characters personalities. Bella is still a klutz, her dad is still an awkward small town man, and the town is still rainy and depressing. The movie, in fact, gives you a bonus. The bonus is the middle of the story, Bella and Edward's romance, is sped up. The novel's slow middle was lost and we didn't lose the essence of the novel's intricate beginning and end.
The most common complaint I hear about the movie is that the pacing was too fast. In comparison to the book it was speedy. It's a good thing. The concept that Bella and Edward didn't have enough time to realistically fall in love in the movie doesn't seem plausible in comparison to the book. The movie follows the same time line of: they meet, they have a series of misunderstandings, Edward saves her life and that changes the nature of their interactions. The only part that is shortened in comparison to the book is the middle where they profess their love over and over. The movie used more visual keys to express the depth of their relationship. Edward and Bella in the meadow scene is the most striking example of this. The scene lasts for a few minutes. By slowing down the pacing the movie has slowed down time and it gives the viewer time to breath and take in the relationship that has formed. It symbolizes and feels like the relationship has time and depth to it.

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