by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Kite Runner might not be a movie that will make you feel comfortable, but it is a fine film. The release date has been pushed back a few times, due to the controversy surrounding the child actors in the film. The child actors, whose families feared for their safety in Afghanistan, were relocated by Paramount Vantage to the United Arab Emirates. The film was only released once the children and their guardians were safely out of Afghanistan. The reason for the safety concerns center around a child rape scene in the film, which in Afghanistan could result in death threats and beatings.
The story begins with the boy Amir and his best friend Hassan, a Hazara (ethnic group) boy who is the son of a servant in Amir’s house. Amir is part of a wealthy family in pre-civil war Afganistan. He and Hassan spend many hours together. Hassan is a brave and loyal friend, who has a knack for finding downed kites won in kite battles.
After a kite competition, Hassan runs to retrieve the last kite cut to bring back to Amir. Amir follows, only to find that Hassan has been cornered by bullies. Amir is too afraid to intercede and secretly watches in horror as Hassan is raped by one of the older bullies. The guilty Amir never mentions what he’s seen, growing more distant from his friend. Eventually, civil war breaks out and Amir and his father must leave the country for safer ground. They end up in America, where Amir grows up and eventually marries.
Amir comes back to Afganistan after receiving a message from an old friend of his family. He then learns that Hassan has died at the hands of the Taliban and that Hassan’s son Sohrab has been placed in an orphanage. Amir then goes on a quest to find the boy and redeem himself. Despite all that happens in Afghanistan when Amir goes to rescue Sohrab, Amir’s true moment of heroism happens at a dinner table safely back in America.
I loved the kite fighting sequences. They were filmed brilliantly. Watching them, it was impossible not to feel a rush of excitement and a thrill of danger as rival kites circled close. Triumph, childhood and hope are in these kites.
Kabul itself was a character in the film, a vibrant and detailed city of flying kites and bustling marketplaces. You can feel Amir’s despair as he rides through the city, so changed and desolate years later. Some things add bright spots of hope during the ride—children still play some of the same games, though kite flying is outlawed.
If you’re seeing the film on the big screen, you’ll want to keep in mind that almost all the film is in subtitles and the dialogue scrolls by fairly quickly. I had no problems with it, but a few of the moviegoers I spoke with had trouble seeing the dialogue.
Those who have read the book will find nothing shocking in the movie. Indeed, some of the horrors have been glossed over in the movie version. Still, there’s a big difference between reading about a horrific incident and seeing it on the big screen. I think that the filmmakers were wise about what they kept on screen and what they kept back. Sometimes the plot feels a bit contrived, it’s sensationalistic and ends up being sentimental, but the sentimentality is welcome after the terrors we witness on the screen.
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