THE KITE RUNNER
US, 2007, 127 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Marc Forster
This is a very moving film which can be recommended.
The novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, topped the best seller lists for a long time and developed a devoted following.
As with most film adaptations, readers who cherish the novel express their disappointment at what has been omitted or at the different emphases on characters. Listening to some of the readers speak about their disappointments, I found that what they said they did not find in the film was actually what I experienced. Practically all of what they valued had been communicated to me as a film viewer. Which means that many films do convey the emotional experience of the novel and the impact of characters – but differently. A page of text might be conveyed in only a few moments through a richly designed set, costumes and a facial gesture. But the reader misses the experience of reading the text and dwelling on it and so does not always perceive what can be conveyed and communicated in even some seconds of moving images and sound.
It seems to me on listening to the readers that The Kite Runner is a respectable adaptation – many readers tend to forget that the film is not the novel itself but an adaptation to a different medium and is an interpretation of the novel.
The Kite Runner offers glimpses of Afghanistan from the 1970s, times of greater peace and prosperity for many despite the Communist rumblings, through the 1980s and the Russian invasion to the 1990s and the rule of the Taliban. The film concludes in the year 2000. For most of us who have general impressions of and ideas about Afghanistan which have now been overshadowed by the conflict since 2001, the film could be something of an eye-opener.
The central character is a young lad from a well-to-do family, Amir, who idolises his father who, he thinks, does not think highly of him. His best friend is a servant, Hassan, the son of the manager of the household. Together, along with the children of Kabul, they excel in flying kites (a great symbol of freedom and exhilaration) and are determined to win the city competition (as the boy’s father had done years earlier). The servant boy is a devoted friend, loyal, loving. Hassan becomes the victim of a crisis which will haunt Amir and torment him in regret for the way in which he acted.
The family escapes the Russians by fleeing with great danger to Pakistan and thence to the United States. The sequence where Amir’s father stands on principle against the Russian soldier wanting to exploit the women is impressive.
The central part of the film portrays the migrant experience in America in the 1980s and 1990s, education, work, becoming acclimatized, the brashness of the younger generation and the hardships of the older generation who have had to assume a completely different way of life and work in more menial circumstances than they did at home. The experience is both an American welcome and a humiliation.
The third part of the film shows the now adult, Amir, returning in secret to Afghanistan to seek out Hassan’s son and rescue him. We are amazed and appalled (but, perhaps, not surprised) to see the havoc that the Taliban have wrought on Kabul, on society and on people’s rights and security. There is a personal challenge for Amir which serves as a kind of atonement for what he did and did not do as a spiteful child. And kite-flying is again the symbol of freedom and, now, of hope.
The performances, especially of the young Hassan who is memorable and Homayan Ershadi who is very moving as the father, are fine and convincing. So, too, are the locations – and it is something of a shock to find that The Kite Runner’s Afghanistan sequences were actually filmed in China (Kabul, the city, the desert and all).
Direction is by Marc Forster, the Swiss director who made a mark with Monster’s Ball and has since made films in a variety of genres: Finding Neverland, Stay, Stranger than Fiction. He is slated to direct the next James Bond film. The Kite Runner is a film he can be proud of.
1.The popularity of the book? The film and its acclaim?
2.Afghanistan, the 20th century, the transition to the 21st century? Its phases of democracy, the Russian invasion, the Taliban? The hindsight after the bombings of Afghanistan and the occupations in the 21st century?
3.The Chinese locations standing in for Afghanistan? The atmosphere of the country, Kabul, the city, alleys, the homes, the cinemas? The changes after the Russian invasion? The time of the Taliban? The ruins? The mountainous countryside?
4.The contrast with the United States, San Francisco, Fremont?
5.The prologue, the kites, San Francisco, Amir and his wife, the arrival of the book, the phone call from his father’s friend, the best time to come to Pakistan and to go to Afghanistan?
6.Kabul 1978, life under democracy? The father’s condemnation of the mullahs and their dictatorship, their literal religiosity? His antipathy towards the communists? Wealth and poverty? American films, The Magnificent Seven, the imitations, Bullitt? The Italian music at the feast? The big cars? Change?
7.Amir and Hassan, their friends, age, flying the kites, each with a task, Amir flying, Hassan being the runner? The rich family? Hassan being a hazara and looked down on? His father as servant? Hassan and his loyalty to Amir, liking his stories, going to the film, playing together, talking, fear of the bully boys? Hassan and his being assertive in his loyalty, insulted by the boys? Amir and his father, his father thinking that he did not stand up for himself?
8.The competition, the excitement, winning, the father’s happiness?
9.The contrast with the two birthdays, each choosing a kite? Amir and his big party, the guests? Hassan watching?
10.The two boys, their talking together, Amir talking about commands, the fruit, Hassan hitting his forehead with the fruit and declaring loyalty? Hassan running after the kite, his being accosted by the boys, the brutality of the rape, his walking, his blood? Amir watching? His fear? Pretending he did not know? Hassan and the aftermath, sleeping? Amir and his resentment? The fruit incident and what it meant to Amir? Asking his father that Hassan and Ali should leave? The incident with the watch, the father forgiving? Ali and Hassan and their leaving?
11.The invasion, the Russians, the father and having to leave everything behind, his friend caring for the house, the car to pay the smugglers? The truck ride, the woman and the baby, the Russian soldier and his intending assault, the father and his strong stand, the risk, telling the Russian soldier that he should be ashamed? War doesn’t negate decency. The husband, his profound thanks? The father and his container of soil, taking it into exile? In the tanker to escape? Amir reciting the poetry?
12.Fremont, 1988, the father and the gas station, losing everything, a new life, learning English? The graduation, his pride in his son? The bar, the friends, the drinks? Amir not wanting to be a doctor, a writer?
13.The market, the encounter with the general, his daughter, Amir and his courting her? The discussions about his stories?
14.His father’s illness, getting his father to ask the permission for the marriage, her secret, confiding in Amir? The marriage, the dancing, the photo album, the father and his death, the funeral?
15.The phone call from Pakistan, his father’s friend, his illness, the fact that the friend had always supported Amir, had read his story and congratulated him?
16.Pashawa, the friend, the anti-Taliban utterances, his happiness with the dedication of the book to him?
17.The story of Hassan, his marriage, son, looking after the house, the Taliban accusing him of theft, his being shot execution-style? Sohrab in an orphanage (and the memories of the story of Sohrab and Rustum and Amir’s telling Hassan the story). Hassan’s letter, learning to write, his reaction to the news about his father, his father’s honour and lies, Hassan as a son? The letter and the photo?
18.His going to Kabul, the terrain, the false beard, the border, the barren countryside, the ruins, the poverty, the people selling their limbs to get money? The driver and his help?
19.The search for the boy, encountering the Taliban meeting, the authorities, the woman in adultery, stoned according to Sharia law?
20.The orphanage, the head, the confrontation, the dance of the boy, Asef and his identity? Asef and his confrontation with Amir, bashing him? Sohrab and the slingshot, like his father? Running away, breaking out? The bribe to get out of the country?
21.The search for Sohrab, Amir and his prayer in the mosque, the lyrics of the song and the words of forgiveness and mercy, peace and blessings of God?
22.The return to San Francisco, the airport, getting the kite, standing up to the general and claiming Sohrab as his relative? His wife’s pride in him? The flying of the kites at the end – and a new life for Sohrab?
23.The betrayal of Hassan by Amir, his reparation in saving his son and giving him a life?
