Movie Review for The Kite Runner

High as a Kite

by Philbert Ortiz Dy
posted on Thursday, February 28, 2008 in Movie Reviews

The Kite Runner was a pretty good novel, and now, it’s a pretty good film. While at times, it takes an overly simplistic approach to things, the film’s power and heart are undeniable. Combine this with a really great cast and some amazing filmmaking, and you get a film that gets an easy recommendation.

This is based on the novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. Amir is an Afghani writer living in the United States. Twenty-two years ago, he was still living in Kabul with his father. He was best friends with Hassan, his Hazara servant. Hassan was Amir’s protector, often standing up for the timid boy. Eventually, their friendship is torn asunder by circumstance and distance. Amir moves to the U.S. with his father, and lives a contented life. But a phone call has him flying to Pakistan, and eventually into his homeland, for one last chance to make things right.

There is a lot of merit to this story. The novel was quite the achievement, a touching powerful account of the plight of Afghanistan and the problems of those who chose to leave it. Although the film cuts out a pretty large chunk of the story, it sticks pretty closely to the novel and its themes. This is a pretty great story on print, and it transfers well on screen. It’s heartfelt, and it’s compelling, and the development of Amir is something that you can easily get invested in. The film does have a few problems showing a fair picture of the problems of Afghanistan. The villains of the piece are almost completely without dimension, and in a film that manages to look at everything so intelligently, that kind of negligence kind of sticks out.

The film is gorgeous. If anything, the film succeeds most in capturing the imagery of the book, the lovely and forlorn descriptions of a land long lost to its characters, a land relegated only to memory. The kite-flying scenes are particularly breathtaking. They fill the screen with a light and color that perfectly portrays the feeling of freedom and hope that a kite can give. This is some great stuff from director Marc Forster, though at times, a touch of subtlety would have been appreciated.

The Kite Runner benefits much from the young cast. The two young actors who play the young Amir and Hassan are fantastic. Zekaria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada do a wonderful job.They are easily the best thing about this film, and one hopes that these two find a bright future in cinema. Iranian Actor Homayoun Ershadi is a joy to watch as Amir’s father. He has an air of nobility about him that makes you want to watch him. Khalid Abdalla, who you may remember from United 93, always gives a lot to the audience.

If anything, people should see The Kite Runner just to get a better idea of what happened in Afghanistan. While the film doesn’t exactly paint a complete picture, there’s enough there to start a discussion, and that’s always better than nothing. But besides that, this is a fine film, and while I may have my reservations about how it glosses over some issues, the strength of the cast, the story and the filmmaking make it an easy film to recommend to anyone.

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