‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn’ Director Says Film Haters “Felt Superior,” But “Were Really Missing The Point”
In the opinion of Twilight: Breaking Dawn duology Bill Condon, most of the hate his two-part franchise finale received came from people who “felt superior” to their campy presentation – and as a result, “really” missed the forest for the trees.
Amidst a larger conversation with The Hollywood Reporter‘s Caitlin Huston regarding his upcoming musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, the veteran director was asked by his host as to why he chose to break from his usual musical or drama style and tackle the franchise films, to which he admitted “There were a lot of things about it.”
“To me, it was also a classic Minnelli Hollywood melodrama. It’s a family story. I aspire to be in the tradition of George Cukor and Vincente Minnelli. But I do think one of the things that’s remarkable about that is that Twilight is a franchise that is really women’s pictures, they call them. It is told from a female perspective. I can’t tell you how many times you talk about that movie and someone would say in the first one, ‘Well, nothing happens,’ but she gets married, she gives birth, she becomes a vampire.”
Met with a follow-up inquiry into his feelings towards “the backlash” Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Part 2 received, Condon told Huston that gave it no mind, not only because he felt it was largely misguided, but also because he was still proud of his work bringing Edward and Bella’s story to a close:
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“Obviously, it became such a target for people, and people felt superior to it, and I thought, ‘God, you were really missing the point.’ Because this is a big franchise that is in on the joke. For me, personally, as a gay director, I thought I brought a bit of camp to it that was permissible. Michael Sheen, that laugh.
“There’s a line that [the character] Molina has in Kiss of the Spider Woman where he says, ‘Call it kitsch. Call it camp. I don’t care. I love it.’ And that’s how I feel about that movie. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to mix it up and to have something where there is such a dedicated audience waiting for it, and you’re in dialogue with that audience knowing that we were going to do this incredibly cruel thing of killing off all of their beloved characters.
“That, to me, was like, ‘Oh, I have to,’ because I just want to be there the first time we show it. I’ve never, ever heard a scream as loud and last as long as when we cut off Carlisle’s head.”
A musical following two Argentinian cell mates as they attempt to distract themselves by recounting the plot to one of their favorite Hollywood films, Condon’s Kiss of the Spider-Woman hits tehaters on October 10th.
