Media Maven: “The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Homayoun Ershadi, Shaun Toub, Zekeria Ebrahimi as Young Amir, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada as Young Hassan
Rarely does a film resemble so completely the vision of the novel it is based upon. In The Kite Runner, we have found a winner.
This film is an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is a story of two Afghani boys youth and the relationship they have forged amidst the political events of the Soviet invasion and the creation of the Taliban regime.
As children, these two boys are inseparable. The young Amir is a privileged son. His friend and defender is the smaller Hassan who is of mixed race and the child of his fathers lifelong servant.
The author describes the Afghanistan childhood of Amir as lush, beautiful, bountiful and beloved. The film depicts this Afghanistan just as beautifully while showcasing the citizens as they celebrate a party in the home of Amirs father, Baba, and also as the street children from the city engage in the annual kite running competition.
This is the story of one Afghanistan Americans life completing the reclamation of the tragedies that beset him as a young child. At the center of this story is Amir.
Our film begins as the adult Amir has met success as an author now living and married in America. In the midst of this triumph he is called to return to Afghanistan to help find a young child. Returning to the Afghanistan of the present is far removed and dangerous from that of his childhood.
Amir and his father fled the Taliban regime and the destruction of their homeland to begin a life in America. As Amir grew to be a young man he held a secret and a childhood betrayal he could never forget. Would going back to face his past ever reconcile it?
Told in a visually stunning backdrop entrenched in treacherous odds and credible recreations of the inhumane treatment of people in Afghanistan and its horror of the conditions within it.
There are many layers to this story of redemption, struggle and forgiveness. Tastefully depicted in this film is a pivotal scene where one character is overpowered and raped. This scene is vital because it serves to represent the social similarity of the rape of an entire country; people being overpowered, oppressed and submitted to silence for survival.
This film was poignant. It was a beautiful story ensconced in the cruelties of war. It eloquently served to tell a story about human injustices: prejudice, ignorance and ethnic cleansing. It told of our collective frailties and most certainly our collective hope.
Although no film could ever encapsulate the nuisances and depth of character development or plot that a novel promulgates; this film makes a praiseworthy effort.
Rating: Five Chic Stars
Jans Movie Rating System:
5 – Top notch entertainment
4 – Compelling, Heartwarming, Thrilling, Comical
3 – The a) story b) actors c) special effects saved/made this movie.
2 – If you are bored watch it, or wait for DVD
1 – Dont bother. Too morose, too violent, too blasé, an enigma.
