In association with

The Kite Runner [2007]
from Paramount Home Entertainment
starring Khalid Abdalla, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub
directed by Marc Forster

Features:

• PAL

Editorial 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

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...

Based on the international bestseller by Khaled Hosseini, THE KITE RUNNER is a fascinating historical epic set in 20th-century Afghanistan. In 1978, Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada) are young boys living in Kabul, where Hassan and his father, Ali (Nabi Tanha), work as servants for Amir and his father, Baba (Homayoun Ershadi). Amir and Hassan make an excellent team in kite competitions, with Hassan having a gift for running kites, but after one contest, he is bullied by Assef (Elham Ehsas), who does unspeakable things to him as Amir watches from a distance and then runs away, not helping his friend. As the Russians and then the Taliban take over Afghanistan, Baba and Amir escape to America, where they make a new home in San Francisco. But even as he graduates from college and meets a beautiful young woman, Soraya (Atossa Leoni), who is also from Kabul, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) is haunted by his cowardice and can't turn down an opportunity to try to make things right when it is offered by his father's old friend Rahim Khan (Shaun Toub)--even if it means risking his life. THE KITE RUNNER was adapted for the screen by David Benioff (THE 25TH HOUR), with much of the dialogue spoken in Dari, one of the primary languages in Afghanistan. Director Marc Foster (MONSTER'S BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND) does a deft job navigating the complicated story, which moves from Afghanistan to San Francisco and Pakistan (with much of the film actually shot in China), using many nonprofessional actors and a subtle score composed by Alberto Iglesias. Ebrahimi and Mahmoodzada make impressive debuts, with solid work by Abddalla, Leoni, and especially Ershadi.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Not what I had hoped for.
  I watch lots of films from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran and after reading the fantastic book I had high hopes for the film. Some parts - probably the bits set in Afghanistan were good, but on the whole I found the film unsatisfying. Rushed and even confusing if you hadn't read the book. Prime example - after he had been beaten up and was in the hospital, the tension created in the book when it seemed everyone may catch up with him was unbearable, but ommitted from the film! A wasted opportunity. Please please... more info

• Touching, compelling and deeply uncomfortable film
  I cannot comment on how the book has been translated into film, as I've not read the book. On its own terms, the film is a strange but compelling mix - some parts are painful to watch, while others make you smile. The acting is very good. Overall, well worth watching.

• Kite Runner
  I only watched a little of this dvd before i got fed up and took it off. The film is in subtitles and at times you cannot read the english titles underneath as they are so quick. Why they made this film in what ever language they are speaking I cannot for the life of me understand.The book was great but the film left me cold .My view is dont bother to buy it .KB

• A superb adaptation of the book
  I have read the book and that isn't always a good thing to do prior to watching the film, however, this is a great screenplay of the novel, I loved it. The casting was excellent, although maybe Assef wasn't quite how I'd pictured him, and Kabul in the 1970's was brought to life brilliantly. You could smell the fragrances and feel the hustle and bustle of a place that now seems to have been lost forever - but I do hope not. It's truly harrowing in parts though, so have a few tissues handy.

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