The Kite Runner

This Marc Foster film based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini tells a very emotional tale about Amir, a well-to-do boy from Kabul who’s haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan. The story is set against the backdrop of historic events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan, through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime. But the story moves across continents and many decades as the historic events suggest.

According to what I read the film is very faithful to the novel and dialogues are almost taken literal from the book. Not knowing the story makes this film very powerful and emotional as the way the story is told grabs your attention very fast and takes you to an emotional voyage while watching child non-actors performing very well, perhaps even better than adults. As the adult Amir, Khalid Abdalla creates a multidimensional character that remains believable even in the most melodramatic moments.

Most fascinating is to find that is the first time China allowed filming in its territory to portrait a different country. The Afghanistan scenes were filmed in the Western Chinese desert that borders Afghanistan and you’ll be able to see magnificent scenes of the two countries bordering glorious mountains.

The film has great cinematography and the only thing that bothered me was the pounding and overly insistent score that does not complement at all the emotions that the visuals are conveying. I know the score got an Oscar nomination, but nowadays I’m really wondering what Academy members have in their heads. But in general is a good movie with a strong story that could make you shred a tear or two.

This is sort of an epic movie that is not suited for all audiences as there is a rape involved in the story; also this is not art cinema so I think that adult audiences will enjoy it very much.

Not a masterpiece but I do recommend not to miss this film for the story it tells.

Enjoy!