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The Kite Runner (2007)

Director: Marc Forster

Time Out rating

Average user rating

49 reviews

Synopsis

‘The Kite Runner’ is the film of the international bestselling book which tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, who is haunted by the guilt of betraying his childhood friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant. It is set against a backdrop of tumultuous 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.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Afghan-born American writer Khaled Hosseini, this accessible, deftly-directed and moving tale of childhood regret and adult atonement courses through three decades of war-torn Afghan history in personal terms. In 1978, preceding the Soviet invasion, privileged seven-year-old Kabul boy Amir (Zekeria Ebrahmi) witnesses the rape of his friend and fellow kite-flyer, lower-class Hazara servant Hassan (the expressive and contained Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) by the malevolent Assef. Confused and angered by his own powerlessness, guilt, and shame, Amir frames his erstwhile companion for theft and is further admonished by the morally pure, loyal and self-abnegating behaviour of his victim, something that troubles the aspirant-writer Amir through his 20-odd years of exile in the US. In the present, a visit to Pakistan to see his dead father’s dying friend, offers news of Hassan’s fate, and prompts the older, now-married Amir (Khalid Abdalla) to a dangerous visit to his now Taliban-controlled home.

Notwithstanding the inevitable tendency of individual stories set against momentous national upheavals to conflate and simplify historical events, Marc ‘Finding Neverland’ Forster’s film achieves minor miracles within the bounds of his broadly conventional narrative. His sober approach allows a surprising level of complexity in his film’s wider interest in themes of guilt, displacement, honour and conflicting traditions, while his sensitivity to the emotional responses of his characters – both adult and child – is never overwhelmed nor upstaged by his incorporation of challenging dramatic scenes (such as a startlingly brutal stoning of an adulterous couple in a Kabul stadium). Likewise, the film’s belief in the power of redemption and its subtle assertion of the need for moral courage in personal (or political) conflict, is never allowed to get in the way of its boldly told, intelligent, informed and affecting story.

Author: Wally Hammond 2007-12-17 15:10:44

Time Out London Issue 1948: December 19 2007-January 1 2008

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User reviews of this film

Char said...

Posted on Jul 13 2009 02:44 Really good movie. Very powerful. It's the kind of movie that keeps you wanting for more. It gives great insite of a personal nature to what has happened in Afghanistan

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Lucy said...

Posted on Mar 31 2009 09:38 An appalling film. I too loved the book, but found the film completely lacked depth and made no effort to portray the the fundamental relationships between characters. What a pity.

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Orangefizz said...

Posted on Mar 17 2009 20:06 However , after reading such a wonderful book, I was left deflated by the film and felt it was a poor and shallow effort. I appreciated what I watched but it left so much passion out. As was the relationship between Baba and Amir, which plays a huge role in the film. Perhaps good insight for whats going on in afghanistan but it kind of came across like a news report than it did a young boys tale,

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myip said...

Posted on Mar 16 2009 00:28 This has to go onto my top 10 list of best films of all times. The book is superb but the film is outstanding in a way that it is always difficult to adapt a great book into a film and yet I would say this film is as good as the book if not better. It opens your eyes to a world I am not familiar with and the film is so sensitive and it conveys so many things. It is so beautifully shot and so intelligently executed. I recommend everyone to watch this film. I certainly moved me deeply and left me thinking for days about family, relationships, the world and forgiveness. Please if you have not watch this get a copy.

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Chris said...

Posted on Jan 30 2009 14:12 I absolutely loved the book, but the film certainly did not live up to the tale. Much too many simple details were left out that could of made this a great film such as the harelip, the suicide theme, football match, henna hands, Ali and Hassan, Hiter theme...Not enough background was given about the Hazaras or Amir and Hassans friendship. I thought the casting and acting were particularly sub-standard, Baba was not the man-bear I had imagined him and many of the actors seemed to stand there and deliver their lines without doing much else. I have a feeling this was filmed digitally which gave it a TV movie feel. Read the book forget the film...

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smileystar said...

Posted on Jan 24 2009 17:36 I recently read the book and was completely fixated by the tale. It opened my mind to what was going on in the world. I am now reading the follow-up. I had to watch the film just to see how well my own imagination matched the film directors. ..I really enjoyed it.

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pac-man said...

Posted on Aug 16 2008 01:22 It's not often that having read the book that you're not disappointed by the film, but the characters and even the locations were as I imagined. The only thing which I felt was skimmed over was the background of the two boys friendship and how closely their lives were intertwined. Brilliant though. Highly recommended.

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Bear said...

Posted on Jul 22 2008 11:55 rubbish film

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Pedobear said...

Posted on Jul 22 2008 11:55 What a boring dump

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Jim said...

Posted on Jul 12 2008 14:35 One of the best movies that I have watched this year or any year. Superbly acted with a wonderfully uplifting theme. Emotional rollercoaster of a movie. If you watch one movie this year, please watch this one.

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Vlad said...

Posted on Apr 26 2008 01:24 Of all the thousands of movies I have seen in my life this was one that certainly produced a most profound affect. I could identify with the players and it stirred up some of my own dreadful experiences that were buried so deep inside of me that watching this film caused me great emotional turmoil. While as a result of these traumas I tend to be an extremely controlled emotionless person it is a rare film indeed that can penetrate the fortified stone walls that usually surround my heart. Definitely a powerful story and I’m very happy to have to watched this gem of a movie.

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George said...

Posted on Mar 10 2008 21:51 I haven't seen the film, but the book is SUPERB! Schoolkids should study this instead of Shakespeare. Wonderful book.

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Arina said...

Posted on Feb 19 2008 19:21 This film is incredibly powerful and moving. It Shows real events through fiction. Its a must see movie. Being an afghan myself i believe that the actors portrayed afghans and afghanistan just as they both truely are. The bad and the good.
on another note Willy is a total gimp. What would YOU know about the actors , you cant even spell properly.
A) The actors who acted out the film were incredible. The amount of passion put into the makin of this film was amazing. combining this with the story line and script, the outcome was insatiable.
b) you Must have one heck of a cold heart if it did not move you.
Overall 10/10
=D

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Daphne said...

Posted on Feb 18 2008 04:13 I love it. Watch it twice and still I end up crying..pretty touching.I love the boys in the story they are quite good actors

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Daphne said...

Posted on Feb 18 2008 04:13 I love it. Watch it twice and still I end up crying..pertty touching.I love the boys in the story they are quite good actors

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