The Kite Runner (2007)

Based on the Novel by Khaled Hosseini
Written by David Benioff
Directed by Marc Forster

This is one of those rare feel-good stories that transformed from a novel into a well made, fully realized film, where I actually read the novel before ever hearing about the production of the film, at the behest of my mom. I figured it would be typical heartwarming sap on the subject of immigration and the great American dream, but wow, I could not be more wrong, and that's something I'm more than glad to admit.

Khaled Hosseini's book is what I would call a "demi-biography" because although most of the events are fictionalized, the traits of his main character, and a lot of the history involved, is autobiographical. It's the fictionalization that brings the extra dramatic weight, but at the same time, you can clearly see the real author shining through in the character of Amir (Khalid Abdalla), as supplanted a past the character may have.

The story follows Amir, first showing him as a grown man, receiving the first shipment of his freshly pressed book, (one that is meant to mirror The Kite Runner, obviously) when he gets a call, on the other end, a ghost from the past. It is his father's old friend Rahim (Shaun Toub), who bids Amir to come home, he tells him, to be good again.

From here, we get the story of Amir's childhood in Afghanistan, a good childhood, where Amir's father, Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) is a scholar and local philanthropist, building up the community around him. He even keeps his childhood friend Ali (Nabi Tanha) on his payroll as a servant. Much like Baba and Ali, young Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Ali's son Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) grow up as best friends, despite their cultural differences, Hassan and Ali being Hazzaras and Amir and Baba being Pashtuns. Hazzaras live in Afghanistan as second class citizens, but Baba keeps them as close as family. This culture difference is only explored thoroughly as Amir is mocked by the other local Pashtun boys for being friends with his "pet" a boy that, according to Afghani culture, is only fit to wait on the superior Pashtun boy.

The pastime of the boys is flying Kites in competitions with the other local boys, where one is deemed winner when he cuts the other out of the sky. Baba is a local legend in the kite hobby, where he broke the local record with 14 wins in a single tournament. Amir and Hassan compete in the latest tournament, and Amir wins, with Hassan being a master at chasing down the cut kites, a supreme "kite runner" as the chasing down of kites is called. He displays his loyalty to Amir by devoting himself and his talent to the welfare of Amir's image, and he chases down the final kite for Amir, saying "a thousand times for you".

Only on this run, Hassan is cornered by the local Pashtun bullies, and is told he can be free, at the price of the kite that he just ran for Amir. Hassan refuses, instead accepting his punishment in order to return the kite to Amir. "A thousand times for you" as he said. It turns out the price he must pay to get away with the kite is being raped by the older boy Assef (Elham Ehsas), the most heinous and humiliating punishment in that culture.

Amir catches up to Hassan, only to see him raped. In an act of cowardice, Amir runs away, and waits for Hassan on the steps of a building. When Hassan limps out of the alley he was cornered in, Amir knows what has happened, but he is too fearful to admit his own cowardice and recognize the betrayal he has just committed upon his friend. The next few weeks Amir and Hassan grow apart, not able to confront what is on the surface of their friendship. Frustrated, Amir turns his shame into anger, and torments Hassan, provoking Hassan to attack him, which, of course, Hassan would never do. Instead, he plants one of his new birthday presents, a watch, under the pillow of Hassan, and brings it to his father as an example of Hassan's unworthiness. Baba confronts Hassan, and Hassan admits to stealing the watch, once again to prove his loyalty.

Being a man of supreme understanding, Baba forgives Hassan for this misdeed, and welcomes both Hassan and Ali into his home, but Ali, a man of fierce pride, refuses to accept his offering. Shamed, he and Hassan must leave, and forge a new life for themselves.

It is here when the Russians invade Afghanistan, in December 1979. Baba, being a man of wealth, is able to flee. He and Amir get to Pakistan, in the back of a cement truck, and from there are able to escape to America. It is here that Baba is forced to live a life well below what he is used to, earning a living working in a gas station, when in Afghanistan he was a well known man around town, known for helping his people and doing well by the people around him both in business and in welfare.

From here the story picks up back in San Francisco, where Amir is talking to Rahim, the past portion of the film basically serving as the exposition of Amir's memory. He is asked by Rahim to come back to Afghanistan, in the modern Al Quaeda controlled government, to rescue Hassan's son Omar (Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada) from the orphanage he had been placed in after the death of his mother and father at the hands of Al Quaeda.

Amir knows, in his heart of hearts, this is the one thing he must do, even if he dies in the process, to redeem his soul for the wrong he committed so many years ago back in Afghanistan. He must face the past evils he escaped from, and go head to head with the country he left behind to be mangled, only to attempt to salvage the good that he has left behind, in Omar.

This film is at once a love letter to Afghanistan of years past, a joyous loving place that Amir, and in turn, Hosseini, grew up in. At the same time, it is a vicious portrait of Afghanistan as it has become, a war torn nation ruled by religious zeal and fear. Amir finally faces every villain and ghost he left behind, while attempting to redeem his action in the late 1970's by saving one person that has been left behind, by people that he was once like. His guilt is no match for what he actually faces, what the people left behind face, on a day to day basis, and as one character muses "You no longer know the Afghanistan you left behind."

This film is a triumph on all levels. It is a superbly adapted novel, and while a lot of small plot points and even some characters are shortchanged from the book to screen translation, the film still does them justice, as well as the plot and central themes. This is in part because of the excellent script David Benioff (writer of 25th Hour) crafted from the source material, and in another part, because of the care and importance placed on the story by the rest of the artists involved. It reflects Hosseini's love letter to his country, but at the same time hides no vicious truth from the screen.

The direction is magnificent, the scenes play out just as you read them in the novel, with clever and subtle visual effects that place importance on the correct aspects of the book. This is what a novel adaptation should be, a visual representation of the source material, turning words into pictures, but retaining all of the details and themes from those words. The set design accompanies this perfectly, creating the house in the city of Kabul just as the author lovingly describes it, only to have it perfectly torn down later by the invading Russian army. The cinematography is magnificent, the uses of tracking shots and the blending of visual effects into these seemingly impossible shots works in perfect cohesion with what is being said metaphorically.

There was a bit of controversy about the young actors in the movie, for in Afghanistan ignorance and intolerance still reign supreme much of the time. It was feared (and rightly so) that the locals would not understand that the rape scene was merely acting and special effects, they would think it was real, and the actor that played young Hassan feared for his safety. The producers pushed the release date back so the boys could finish school and get out of the country before the film premiered, for their safety. This aside, the raw attitude and real portrayal of the kids is heartbreaking and honest, something most seasoned actors could never accomplish with years of training. Hassan especially, his emotive face and childish tendencies are not overshadowed by anything but his own honesty. The guilt and shame in young Amir's performance is equally as heartbreaking and honest. To think, two untrained actors, putting on some of the best performances of the year. Along with older Amir, and Baba, the film is filled with great performances, top to bottom, which brings the words off of the page and straight into the film.

The social impact is tremendous, this being an honest and brutal depiction of life in Afghanistan, at times both happy and sad, funny and honest, it couldn't be more well made or honestly told. This is the culmination of a great script, a great director, perfect casting, and a great artistic vision on behalf of the whole crew which brings this novel straight to life. A great film, which will ultimately be snubbed at the Oscars. Isn't that just perfect?

9.4/10