Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Where will Breaking Dawn Movie Split?
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As we await the next films in the Twilight Saga, I can’t help but have mixed emotions. I’m not quite sure how I feel about last books being split into two films. Maybe I’ll know for sure after I experience it with the next Harry Potter movie? I can’t help but wonder whether two films truly benefits the fan’s thirst to see more of the book in film or whether it really benefits the pockets of those invested in the film. For fans it may even be a love-hate situation. There’s the bitter sweetness of accepting the delay of the end of beloved saga for as long as possible, along with the agony of waiting yet another year for extra movie. Rather than dwelling on the sadness and frustration of both, I’ve tried to preoccupy myself with two things:
Wondering instead how they plan to keep us excited for the upcoming movies and of course the question on everyone’s minds…where will they split the two movies?
With the two parts of the movie, I think most of us assumed what screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg confirmed in an MTV interview:
The first half is really about Bella as a human and a newlywed and then pregnant, and the second half is about her as a vampire and a parent, so somewhere in that transition is where the break is.”
Fans have posted plenty of general speculation about this break, but has anyone really thought specifically about how visually this would best work in film? I know I have!
I think the first movie should end with the moments after the birth scene, which I do think should be included in the movie, in some capacity. The same MTV interview mentions that Rosenberg is unsure if she’d want to show Bella’s birth scene.  I personally would not prefer not to see all the macabre details of vomiting blood, cutting Bella’s stomach, Edward biting through the placenta or working over a bloody corpse.  Anything too gory would feel out of place for me since the previous films all lacked extreme bloodiness.  It could definitely be done with minimal gruesomeness and focus on the characters and their reactions.
But back to the ending scene, here’s what I imagine…
Renesmee has bitten the weak Bella and is carried away through the door.  As she fades away, Jake looks at Bella’s body in shock and then back towards the door where Renesmee was taken through, sad and confused by the new tug that he feels.
He then looks back at Bella and touches her hand as if to say goodbye. As anger wells up inside him, he looks furiously back at the door and gets up with murder on his mind.
The scene slows down with back and forth shots of images of Jake and the things going on at the same time while Bella has a voiceover of parts of book’s preface….
“I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something you ever really got used to (images: Edward working on saving Bella)…When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options (images: Bella’s bitten wounds closing up, Jacob angrily leaving the birth scene)…If your life was all you had to give to your beloved, how could you not give it? (images: Renesmee being cared for without showing her face but she looks up)….If it was someone you truly loved?” (images: Jake stopping in his tracks, expression changing to shock and understanding as he imprints)
To top it off, I would just love it if they have one of those snippets at the end of the credits like they’ve had in some movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: at the World’s End, Wolverine, and Iron Man 2.  I imagine it showing muffled sounds becoming clearer, darkness becoming lighter and then a close-up shot of Bella’s red eye opening.  BAM! Now that would get me psyched for Part 2!
I can’t wait to see how they plan to make Bella look different as a vampire, especially with the red eyes. Particularly to replace the unfortunate peek we had of vampire Bella in the New Moon movie (come on now, even Chris Weitz expressed regrets with that scene!).  Hopefully the movie posters for each film will contrast each other with Bella’s look.  Which reminds me, is anyone else bored of the posters simply showing the threesome and hoping for more details or perhaps other characters?  Ah there I go feeling excited yet sad again thinking about the last movie. It’s been an exhilarating journey that hopefully will end with a lot of poignant closure…and I for one can’t wait to see those movie posters showing Bella as a red eyed vampire, you know as long as she’s not frolicking in the forest.
TA’ers: Where do YOU think the movie will split? Let’s hear it in the comments below!
