228 out of 229 people found the following review helpful:

Afghani family values and an eye on their problems

PaulaWestwood from , 1st January, 2008

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.

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61 out of 62 people found the following review helpful:

Kite-fighting and friendship

IanStewart from , 13th March, 2008

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.

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50 out of 50 people found the following review helpful:

slightly dissapointing

tracy39 from , 7th January, 2008

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.

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41 out of 62 people found the following review helpful:

the kite runner

rannoch from from Gourock, 13th September, 2008

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.

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Great film

Newtman from , 19th March, 2010

I knew this would be good and I really enjoyed it. I found the sub-titles a little distracting but it did make the atmosphere more authentic. Seeing Afghanistan as it was before all the conflict made me feel sad that a way of life has been destroyed first by the Russians,then the Taleban and now us and our allies. The photography of the kites was stunning.

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Kite Runner

sweetchappie from , 17th March, 2010

It was an ok movie, not my cup of tea but good story line and abit intense at times, alot of it is in Arabic.

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Excellent film

Randomfilmbuff from , 14th March, 2010

This was a great film and I am sure the book is just as good. it is shocking what these people went through. the only issue i had was that this is like a hollywood take on foreign films. if you dont like subtitles dont watch. i cannot believe some viewers want all films in english

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..I ran with the Kite Runner

Sebastian362 from , 13th March, 2010

A little slow to start, but the characters are adorable. The child actors are perfect, and their adult selves make this a film worth all of the accolades that come before it. At times, it could have been a little more sentimental. Afghanistan must have been a beautiful place before the taliban distorted a beautiful religion.

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