If you are anything like this reviewer, you have probably been disappointed by many of the movies that have been released this year. If this is true then ditch your local movie theater and explore films playing at your local art house. “The Kite Runner” is playing in discount theaters but it has been in theaters since November and is well worth seeing on the big screen before it is too late.
“The Kite Runner” is a film based on the international bestseller of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It chronicles the life of Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi), an Afghan refugee living in California. Amir returns to Afghanistan to find a childhood friend in the country, now run by the Taliban, but his search soon turns into a rescue mission and a quest for redemption. Many of the people in this film are first-time actors and most of them are actual Afghans who have lived most or all of their lives in Afghanistan. The film is unique because it is shot half in English and half in Dari, the Afghan dialect of Persian or Farsi with a few other languages such as Russian sprinkled in here and there as well. Whether you are an American, an Afghan, or anything in between, this is a foreign film.
This is one the select instances when a film based on a book is successful. Though it is not an entirely faithful adaptation, most of the salient information is. There were some parts that were obviously different from the book, many of the more disturbing and upsetting parts of the book were not included in the film but filmmakers managed to keep the feeling of the film similar to that of the book. Those omitted parts were probably not included because as this film was already very controversial. It almost failed to release because the safety of the actors was threatened. In one scene, the boys had to simulate a rape, thus, the film was not released until the actors were able to leave Afghanistan safely.
This is an important film today because it gives Western audiences another perspective on what is happening in the Middle East today. Hopefully, the writers’ strike will result in cutting down on movies with no substance and production companies will focus more on heavier films like “The Kite Runner.” Such films are important to our understanding of the world because they make people examine how this country treats immigrants.
If you do not get the chance to see it in theaters, “The Kite Runner” is a must rent film as soon as it hits video. In the mean time, read the book, as it is not to be missed either.
