The Kite Runner (2007)
Country: US/CHI
Technical: DeLuxe/2.35:1 128m
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Shaun Toub, Atossa Leoni
Synopsis:
A young Afghan author living in California is contacted by a family friend on the eve of the publication of his book, with the request that he go out to Pakistan to see him. His mind turns to reminiscing about his childhood in Kabul and his friendship for a lower caste boy with an innate skill at running down fallen kites.
Review:
A fascinating film in many ways: a slice of a country's history too often only glimpsed in the headlines, revealing that Kabul was like any other semi-developed metropolis on the Indian subcontinent before the Soviets came; a vision of that country not tied to a small budget and with some breathtaking aerial footage of the kite flying; a painful story of childhood loyalty and betrayal, followed by an equally touching redemption. Those who have read the book will carp and complain, but this is film-making of the first order and, one senses, a film that needed to be made.
Country: US/CHI
Technical: DeLuxe/2.35:1 128m
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Shaun Toub, Atossa Leoni
Synopsis:
A young Afghan author living in California is contacted by a family friend on the eve of the publication of his book, with the request that he go out to Pakistan to see him. His mind turns to reminiscing about his childhood in Kabul and his friendship for a lower caste boy with an innate skill at running down fallen kites.
Review:
A fascinating film in many ways: a slice of a country's history too often only glimpsed in the headlines, revealing that Kabul was like any other semi-developed metropolis on the Indian subcontinent before the Soviets came; a vision of that country not tied to a small budget and with some breathtaking aerial footage of the kite flying; a painful story of childhood loyalty and betrayal, followed by an equally touching redemption. Those who have read the book will carp and complain, but this is film-making of the first order and, one senses, a film that needed to be made.
Country: US/CHI
Technical: DeLuxe/2.35:1 128m
Director: Marc Forster
Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Shaun Toub, Atossa Leoni
Synopsis:
A young Afghan author living in California is contacted by a family friend on the eve of the publication of his book, with the request that he go out to Pakistan to see him. His mind turns to reminiscing about his childhood in Kabul and his friendship for a lower caste boy with an innate skill at running down fallen kites.
Review:
A fascinating film in many ways: a slice of a country's history too often only glimpsed in the headlines, revealing that Kabul was like any other semi-developed metropolis on the Indian subcontinent before the Soviets came; a vision of that country not tied to a small budget and with some breathtaking aerial footage of the kite flying; a painful story of childhood loyalty and betrayal, followed by an equally touching redemption. Those who have read the book will carp and complain, but this is film-making of the first order and, one senses, a film that needed to be made.