Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-02
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 124 minutes

Amazon.co.uk 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

DVD Description
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...

Synopsis
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

Ticks all the good boxes
This movie does feed on stereotypes (like many movies) but I found its plus sides overweight considerably the few clichees that some people have picked on. It is first of all a wonderful epic that kept me heart and soul glued to the screen for its 2 hours duration. The acting is great, but the performances of all the young actors are amazing, I think they are the heart and soul of the movie. They really set the tone of the story. Another good bit is that this movie is an introduction to Afghanistan to many Westerners. It has been for me , at least. My knowledge and interest in Afghanistan had been zilch, apart from what my mind cared to remember from catastrophic news flashes on news channels in the UK. THis movie/and book has sparked at least my curiousity to find out more about what's going on in Afghanistan. SO I have read Jason Elliot's 'An unexpected light - travels in Afghanistan', Rory Steward's 'Theplaces in between', and Eric Newby's ' A short walk in the HIndu Kush'.They are well written and recognised travel books on Afghanistan. I highly reccomend them to anyone who cares to find out a tid bit more about that country. The Kite Runner is a beautiful movie.

"There is a Way to be Good Again"
Amir (Zekeria Ebrahimi) and Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) are two boys growing up in 1970's Afghanistan. Even though Hassan is the son of Amir's family servant, the two are close friends. They even make a great team in the annual kite tournament, and Hassan has shown a remarkable talent for chasing the fallen kites.

Tragedy strikes the boys during the winter of 1978, however, when Amir witnesses the neighborhood bullies performing an unspeakable act on Hassan. Racked with guilt, Amir withdraws from Hassan.

When the Soviets invade Afghanistan, Amir and his Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) move to San Francisco. As an adult, Amir (now played by Khalid Abdalla) has managed to put his past behind him. Until a phone call brings it all back. What will he do now?

When I finally read the novel this movie is based on, I found it rather slow and predictable. I thought I might enjoy the movie better since it would have to streamline the plot. In the end, I was glad I read the book first since the movie glosses over several events that really set things up early on. There was enough there to make the movie work, but the complex themes of relationships, regret, forgiveness, prejudice, and revenge don't come across as strongly as they could. One key plot point near the end is completely absent. While it would have added extra time to an already two hour movie, it makes the last 10 or 15 minutes needlessly confusing.

That's not to say I wasn't impacted emotionally. The further into the movie I got, the more I cared about the outcome. I even found myself fighting back tears a couple times.

The movie is almost all in Farsi with English sub-titles. Even when the setting moves to San Francisco, at least half of the scenes are sub-titled. Once or twice, the lines moved so quickly I couldn't keep up, but it didn't bother me otherwise.

The cast of relative unknowns is wonderful. Personally, I find the boys fine but wooden, like they were reciting lines with little emotion behind them. But that could easily be because I was too busy trying to read the sub-titles to watch them too closely.

The kite flying scenes are magical. While obviously computer generated, they are more elaborate then I expected and brought a smile to my face.

The movie handles the tough scenes with grace. The events are hinted at but never shown in graphic detail. Even so, know going in that this is an emotional drama and not just some light entertainment.

If it weren't for that missing plot point at the end, I would have enjoyed this movie more then I did. In the end, the movie turns out to be an average adaptation of an average book.

The Kite Runner
In San Francisco, Afghan author Amir (Abdalla) reflects back on his childhood in Kabul. The young Amir is the son of a successful Afghan business man, whereas his best friend Hassan, is also his loyal servant. The two friends compete in kite flying competitions, but when returning from retrieving a defeated kite, Hassan is stopped by a neighbourhood bully, Assef (Ehsas). Assef and his group attack Hassan, eventually raping him. The friendship between the two boys begins to breakdown, with Hassan and his father eventually leaving the home. The Soviets then invade Afghanistan, and Amir and his father, a staunch anti-communist, are forced to leave the country, and flee to the United States. We are then transported back to 2000, where Amir receives a phone call, asking him to return to his war-torn home, as "There is a way to make things good again."

The decision of director Mark Foster to use real Afghan children has clearly been justified in the performances given by the two young boys. Zekeria Ebrahimi, as the young Amir, is convincing as a young child, racked by the guilt of not standing up for his best friend. However, it is the turn of Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, as the young Hassan, a lower-class `Hazara' Afghan, which really is the stand-out performance of this film. The character could easily have come across as an ill-educated servant child, who is willing to follow his master to the point of self-sacrifice. But Mahimidzada makes the character feel completely real and convincing.

In saying this, the adult cast is just as good. The now grown up Amir, played by Khalid Abdalla, is a quiet young man and who still feels the guilt of events 15 years previous. However, he can at times seem overly moody and withdrawn. The performance by Homayon Ershadi as Amir's father - or `Baba' - is most memorable amongst the adult cast. As a man who has fallen from the heights of wealth in Afghanistan, to working in a petrol station in San Francisco, Baba maintains his dignity, and in an encounter with a former Afghan general, we gain an in-sight into the social structure of the fallen nation.

The Kite Runner is a beautifully shot film, with cinematographer Robert Schaefer managing to recreate the hustle and bustle of pre-Soviet invasion Kabul - a city full of life, light and colour. Despite being CGIed, the battles between the kites, soaring above the city, look fantastic. He also manages to transform this city into the fallen Afghanistan of 2000, especially in the chilling scene at the Afghan national stadium.

The problem with this film is Amir's return to Afghanistan. The events in this part of the film rely on coincidental meetings, with the same characters from the past reappearing to tie up the loose ends of the story. This can make the story seem unreal, and make Amir seem very lucky in his venture, rather than capturing the emotions of the novel.

While the heavy nature of this film may not appeal to most, the performances given by the relatively unknown cast - both young and old - make this a film to see.