Review of The Kite Runner (2007) by Edward B — 14 Jan 2012

Three word review: Read. The. Book.

Longer review: Marc Forster respects Khaled Hosseini's brilliant debut novel, but something does get lost in the adaptation process. The Kite Runner is one of the best books I've ever read, but the film version, while very faithful, acts like a Coles Notes for those with really short attention spans, or a "Disneyfication" of the source material. Several plot points are simplified to move the story forward so that it can cover as much ground as its 2 hour running time will allow. This quick, rushed pacing causes a lot of scenes that had more emotional weight in the novel to lose their impact. In a nutshell, The Kite Runner spans several decades and sees the two main characters as both children and adults. One of the kids, Amir, begins to grow jealous of his friend, Hassan, although why he feels this way is never fully explored in the film - the novel was much more clear.

Furthermore, the script by David Benioff doesn't fully grasp the conflict that is erupting throughout Afghanistan. Hosseini's novel speaks of the events through a naive narrator. In other words, Hosseini writes about the conflict but he does it through the perspective of the child; the child doesn't understand what he's seeing, but the readers do. While such a device works for the book, the film version never goes into any detail to explain the conflict between the two different tribes of Afghans and how that sparked much of the upheaval in the decades to come.

Where the film stumbles into cheese-ball territory is in the kite flying sequences. Blending close up tracking shots with CGI kites, these sequences are not only out of place, they subvert whatever symbolic meaning the kites had to the story. Where Hosseini was very poetic in describing Amir and Hassan flying their kites, Forster opts for a heavy handed, sentimental approach, which will either cause unintentional laughter or annoyed "alright, we get it" groans.

Nevertheless, I believe audiences who never read the book will still find this movie to be quite engaging. Judged as a film on its own terms, Marc Forster's Kite Runner isn't a bad movie. The actors are good, the music and the on-location mise-en-scene contribute to a very authentic experience. Much of Hosseini's story still successfully translates to the screen, and the final fifteen minutes are sure to make a few audience members shed tears. Unfortunately, this is a pale adaptation of a masterwork. Fans of the book will surely be disappointed. But if you're new to this story, the film is good enough to entertain you and hopefully inspire you to pick up the book.