The Kite Runner Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Afghani family values and an eye on their problems

The story of boyhood friends from each side of the caste system in Afghanistan, this brings home the actual significance of personal tragedies war, disputes and caste systems (in fact bias of any kind) cause, and the vile atrocities and nastiness of all regimes who prey on the easily influenced, weak and displaced. As it is concentrated mainly on one family it brings home the whole reality of suffering such armed disputes of this nature cause. After the fall of Afghanistan to the Russians, those who could afford it fled, and the ones left behind faced hardships that if anything worstened after the Russian withdrawal and the new 'regime' of the Taliban started their own sort of pogrom. There is no hollywood glitz glamour or hype here, just an accurate (slightly watered down for various reasons) following of an a book. If you have any interest in recent history, or world affairs as not thrown at you by some media rag or biased TV news reporting, this will be worthwhile, almost essential, viewing.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Kite-fighting and friendship

This film’s story begins in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the 1970s. We meet two 12-year-old boys, Amir and Hassan. The two are close friends. But there’s also tension in their friendship: Amir is the son of a well-to-do family; he is a Pashtun, the ruling class in the country at that time. Hassan is the son of the family’s servant, and is a Hazara, a racial group looked down on by many Pashtuns. Though Hassan is Amir’s friend, he never forgets he is also his loyal servant.

A central theme in the movie is that of “kite-fighting”, a popular sport in Afghanistan. In a big tournament, hundreds of kites can be in flight at the same time. Contestants coat the strings of their kites with broken glass; the object of the game is to cut the strings of other kites, with the last kite flying being declared the winner. As part of the game, boys run to pick up and keep each defeated kite. Hassan is not only Amir’s dedicated supporter in the game – he is the most talented kite-runner in Kabul.

The story moves on to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, during which Amir and his father flee to America. Following the expulsion of the Russians comes the tyrannical rule of the Taliban. By this time, Amir, now married and in his early twenties, has lost track of Hassan. Amir’s uncle calls from Pakistan, begging Amir to return to Kabul. Amir reluctantly agrees, and from that point events gain momentum until the climax of the story.

Unlike some other reviewers, I think the screenplay does a pretty good job of staying true to Khaled Hosseini’s book. Of course, in a film lasting just over 2 hours, a lot of content has to be cut out, but I’d say the movie does manage to capture the main turning-points of the story, so that interest never flags.

I’m usually not one to go much on special effects – but in this film, during the kite-fighting sequences, we often find ourselves ABOVE the kites, looking down on them as they wheel and swoop in the sky, with the houses and streets of Kabul way below them. This is a thrilling experience, made even more so by energetic swishing sounds as the warring kites zoom past (a bit like the swishing of the swords in a kung-fu movie).

There’s splendid acting from the whole cast, especially the two boy actors who play the young Amir and Hassan.

[Highly rated reviewer]

slightly dissapointing

After reading the book I was really looking forward to seeing the film, and I did enjoy it , the acting was great, particularily the boy who played Hassan, as was the set design and cinematography, but I didn't get the same heart wrenching feeling from the film as I did the book and perhaps would have enjoyed the film more if I had seen it first. I found it a bit lacking emotionally, I think the story had been watered down for American audiences, which was a huge shame, and it missed out huge parts of the book which were important to the story.

the kite runner

This film was dreadful, slow uneventful and above all almost completely with english subtitles - why o why can't film makers just make films in english.

Well worth a watch!

I have seen this movie at the cinema and was really pleased with it. It's one of the best movies I have seen in a while. It's moving and captivating, the music is great, this movie is brilliant! Well worth a watch!

The kite runner.

I didn't enjoy this and gave up after 15 minutes. Not sure why exactly, i was looking forward to seeing it.

What's All The Fuss About?

After all the hype this 'masterpiece' was disappointing. Painfully slow, quite boring and having to read the sub-titles became a tedious task.

The two young actors playing Amir and Hassan were good, but the rest of the cast didn't seem to want to be there!

'World Cinema' arty stuff is not really my scene and this film has shown me the reason why.

Disapointing

The story line is great but half the film has to be read in subtitles cause there talking a diffrent language. Yes its a good effect when theres not much of it but you have to read subtitles for 45mins at a time and thats just frustrating. Would not reccoment to anyone

Kite runner

I didn't like this film, not what i expected. As i hadn't read the book i wasn't expecting certain scenes that happened.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Disappointing

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie as I really enjoyed the book but I have to say I found it pretty boring. The acting is fantastic but theres just not a lot happening in the film to keep me entertained.