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Synopsis: After living in the United States for many years, an Afghan man returns to Kabul to help the son of a childhood friend.

Technical Details

Title The Kite Runner Country United States Genre Drama Language English, Dari, Pashtu, Urdu, Russian Director Marc Forster Cast Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, Homayoun Ershadi Year 2007     My Rating More Info IMDB Buy Amazon

Review

The Kite Runner is an Oscar nominated American film based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir and his loyal servant Hassan. The boys spend their childhood days as good friends, kite fighting in the streets of Kabul. One day Amir witnesses the rape of Hassan by a group of bullies, but is unable to come to his aid. After this event Amir is consumed by guilt, and being around Hassan only reminds him of his cowardice, so the boys start to take distance from each other. When the Soviets invade Afghanistan Amir and his father leave to Pakistan and later settle in the United States. Hassan stays in Kabul with his father.

Several years later, Amir, now married and on the path to become a successful writer, hears news of his childhood friend, who was killed by a Taliban official, now the ruling regime in Afghanistan. He also learns that his wife was also killed and that they had a son, who is in an orphanage. Amir, who even after all the years that passed feels he let his friend down, decides to travel to Kabul to find this boy.

The Kite Runner is a sad, yet beautiful story. Technically the film is well rounded. The kite fighting effects are very entertaining to watch. The film features a few young Kabul native boys who are not trained actors, yet they do a superb job. I’ve found some omissions that are minor to the story but should have been considered if the intent was to make a more believable film. For example, at some point a foreigner enters the United States without doing any paperwork. In real life it would take months or sometimes years to get a resident visa. And I’m sure those more familiar with Afghanistan and the Taliban regime will find that the way they are depicted in this film is overly simplified. Setting this aside, there is a good and powerful story in this film, one that is likely to bring you to tears.

©2008 by Miguel Grinberg

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