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Amazon.co.uk review
Like the bestselling book upon which it's based, The Kite Runner will haunt the viewer long after the film is over. A tale of childhood betrayal, innocence, harsh reality, and dreamy memory, The Kite Runner faces good and evil--and the path between them, though often blurry and sorrowfully relative. Director Marc Forster (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland) presents a painterly vision of Afghanistan before the Soviet tanks, before the Taliban--lush, verdant, fertile--in its landscape and in its people and their history and hopes. The story follows two young boys' friendship, tested beyond endurance, and the haunting of their adult selves by what happened in their youth--and what horrors befall their country in the meantime. The performances of the two boys--Zekeria Ebrahimi (Amir) and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada (Hassan)--are the film's strongest, unforced and gently evocative. The penance paid by their adult selves is foreshadowed, but never predictable--and the metaphor of innocence lost, a common theme in Forster's work, keeps the film, like the title kites, truly aloft. --A.T. Hurley
DVD Description
Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner is a tale of friendship, family, devastating mistakes and redeeming love. In a divided country on the verge of war, two childhood friends, Amir and Hassan, are about to be torn apart forever. It's a glorious afternoon in Kabul and the skies are bursting with the exhilarating joy of a kite-fighting tournament. But in the aftermath of the day's victory, one boy's fearful act of betrayal will mark their lives forever and set in motion an epic quest for redemption. Now, after 20 years of living in America, Amir returns to Afghanistan under the Taliban's iron-fisted rule to face the secrets that still haunt him and take one last daring chance to set things right...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
131 of 134 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intense: not for the light hearted and has wrong age classification.,
By
This review is from: The Kite Runner [DVD] (DVD)
Most of the film is in Persian/Dari with subtitles, which may be more of an issue for some viewers than others. It tells the story of two Afghan boys, one rich, and one poor who enjoy a close friendship in Afghanistan on the eve of the Soviet invasion. They are keen kite flyers, although a personal dispute makes their friendship go sour just as the invasion is happening. One boy escapes with his wealthy anti-communist father to America, whilst the other remains in Afghanistan.
Years pass, and the refugee boy is now a successful published author living in America. He then receives a phone call, telling him that his friend is dead, and that there is something very important he should know about him which explains the close bond his father seemed to have with his friend. Also, the friend has gone on to have a son, who is now being kept as a slave by a Taliban commander following his fathers death. The refugee turned author must now re-infiltrate Afghanistan, now under Taliban control to rescue his friends son, and avoid being killed by the Taliban who will not take kindly to his American passport, or his clumsy mistakes concerning their strict interpretation of Islamic law. It has to be said, this film has a number of very jarring violent and adult scenes that are much stronger than the ludicrous 12 classification. Early in the film, a boy is anally raped, and whilst we mercifully don't see the actual act, it is clearly implied. Also, there is a rather jarring scene where a woman in a burqa is stoned to death for adultery at a Taliban rally. During the escape from the Soviet invasion, a Russian troop points a gun at a convoy of refugees, and offers to let them go in exchange for sexual favours from the women. Needless to say, these themes and scenes are not very appropriate for 12 year olds. All in all, the film is a very good show. It has some powerful themes and scenes, but it is not light viewing. If you like intense entertainment, this is for you. The infrequent but strong violence means its not one to watch with the kids, despite the rather tame seeming 12 classification. This film should at very least have been a 15.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Read the book,
By
This review is from: The Kite Runner [DVD] (DVD)
Rarely does a film adaptation of a book manage to do justice to the original, and I have to say this is no exception. Whilst magnificently cast the film is too brief, goes at too quick a pace and glosses over key moments that the book expresses so eloquently. A prime example of this is Amir's final confrontation with long time tormentor Assef which has been reduced here to little more than a smash and grab yarn. 'Kite runner' is a very powerful tale of friendship, betrayal,remorse and redemption but you will miss out on many colourful details without reading the book. The film is agreeable and faithful in character, but not great.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brotherhood, Love and Redemption,
By
This review is from: The Kite Runner [DVD] (DVD)
I fell in love with Khaled Hosseini's novel `THE KITE RUNNER'; the story is sad, beautiful and inspiring. The writer relates the story in a way that makes you feel like it's poetry. The adaptation of this film captures the essence of the novel.
This is a story of unconditional love, brotherhood and redemption set in Afghanistan. I like the way that the film is in the Afghan languages (Dari, Pashtu,Urdu) with English subtitles. If the film was in English, a lot of the realism would be lost and the story wouldn't have been as effective. The two young boys who were chosen to play the role of Amir and Hassan were well-cast. The characters are best friends living in a household where Amir is the son of the rich owner of the house and the Hassan is the son of the house keeper; the class differences become an important factor in the story. The boys appear to have an inseparable friendship, they go to the cinema together and fly kites in competitions. An event occurs (I don't want to ruin the film for those who haven't seen it) in which Amir's strength of character and loyalty is tested. His actions, or lack there-of, will severely affect the friendship between the boys and they will never be the same again. Amir will be haunted with guilt due to the consequences of that fateful day for the rest of his life. As a man, many years later, Amir discovers that there is hope, redemption is possible: `there is a way to be good again'.
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