Review of The Kite Runner (2007) by Krisg. — 27 Dec 2007

The Kite Runner 12A Most films, even the Oscar winners and "box office best sellers", tend to be pretty dull affairs and hardly ever worth reviewing. 'Kite Runner' is a film that starts low key and actually gets better and better as the film progresses.

Without being at all cliquéd or over-stated, 'Kite Runner' is a true "Tour de Force": magnificent, powerful and incredibly moving. Make sure you take some Kleenex tissues as it is quite a weepie, albeit unexpectedly so, and a far cry from Hollywood saccharine.

It tells the story of the friendship between the son of a servant and that of a high-class family to whom the boy's family is in servitude. It is set in Kabul and San Franscisco, the former on location in North Beijing, with stunning landscape, photography and authentic recreation of an Afghanistan peasant community, that takes us through marketplaces and mountainous terrain.

It is hard to see how it is a 12A certificate film, for it shows scenes of male rape against a young boy and graphic scenes of animals strung up in the market place, their heads laying around on the ground in the Halal method of draining off the life-force blood of the creature.

The film appears to be based on an autobiographical account of the strong relationship of the narrator - one of the boys -with his father and this ensures the emotional moments are touching and authentic, rather than stylistic or formulaic.

Just when you think the script and storyline are predictable, one is surprised by the sudden twists and turns drawing gasps from the audience. The film stars are excellent, of ethnic authenticity, with one of the co-stars a dead ringer lookalike of Dodi Fayed.

Strongly and unhesitatingly recommended, the film is beautiful without ever becoming corny, despite the ending being pure Hollywood. Superb and of great depth. Even the soundtrack is a masterstroke of cinematic genius.