The Kite Runner, He Said

This journey starts in Afghanistan before the Russians have invaded. On this journey, we follow the life of a young Afghan boy. Amir is raised by his widowed father, Baba, with the help of a faithful servant and the servants son, Hassan. Baba is a successful business man, who is outspoken in his opposition to the Mullah's and the Communists in his country. Later, this will determine a huge course correction in the direction of their lives, but the director first had to set up the beginning of a classic coming of age journey, and what we leaned in the first part of the film is that Amir is the quiet story teller and Hassan is the brave and loyal friend.

The young boys live a carefree life exhibited in their love of flying the battle kites, a long a respected tradition among young boys in Kabul. In this competition, when the victor engages and cuts the string of the last kite in the competition, he is the champion and his "runner" seeks the kite of the loser as a trophy for his master. It is during this competition, that Amir with the guidance of Hassan wins the battle and Hassan runs for the defeated kite as a battle trophy. During this pursuit, Hassan is cornered by bullies who give him the choice of betraying his master or suffering humiliation at their hands. Hassan, always brave, defies the boys and is raped by Assef. Amir witnesses this humiliation from afar and finds himself incapable of helping his friend.

Amir's guilt and the torture of daily exposure to him, causes him to drive Haasan and his father from the house on a framed charge of theft. We do not have long to witness the effects of this circumstance, because as the Russians advance toward Kabul, Baba flees with his son to America. After their flight from Aphganistan, Baba and Amir settle in Southern California making their living selling in the flea markets. Amir as he grows to manhood continues to hone his skills as a story teller. He graduates from community college, than meets and courts a young Afghan woman, Soraya. They are happy but childless on the day that the shipment of his first hardcover novel appears on their doorstep. It is in the midst of this joy that Amir gets a call from a man who was left to care for the family home in Kabul. Amir feels compelled to fly to Pakistan to help this old friend in trouble. The news he hears when he arrives is a lot more complex than just helping an old friend in need. The news that his fathers friend gives him is shocking and hard to believe. Faced with decision that will give Amir a chance at redemption, but will place him in grave danger, Amir finds the courage of his friend Hassam.

This film is the embodiment of a great story, unfortunately it was not the story I read in Khaled Hosseini's book The Kite Runner, upon which this film is based. The convoluted rescue is overly dramatic and phony and it's portrayal of the Taliban as your average bad guys instead of the monster's and thugs they became was disappointing. Overall, this film has value in it's depiction of the Afghan people and a look at their life. What was missing is all of the background that enabled first the Russians and than the Taliban to use the country and it's people for their ideological playground. The actors in this drama for the most part were first rate and the production values splendid. You will enjoy this a lot more if you have not read the book first.