Dir. Marc Forster, US, 2007, 128 mins, subtitles
Cast: Khalid Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, Zekeria Ebrahimi
Review by Carol Allen
Although an American film, apart from a few of the scenes set there Foster has wisely chosen to tell the story in the authentic native languages of the characters - Dari, Pashtu, Urdu and some Russian. Based on Khaled Hosseini's novel, its protagonist Amir (Abdalla) is, like Hosseini himself, a successful Afghan born doctor turned writer, now living in America. At the height of his success Amir returns to his homeland to put right a wrong he did to his friend Hassan (Mahmidzada) when, as children, Hassan was abused by a racist bully while Amir hid away and did nothing to help him. Much of the early part of the film is devoted to that childhood friendship with Amir, played as a child by Ebrahimi. Amir's father, Baba (Ershadi), is a wealthy and respected member of the Afghan middle class. Hassan is the son of Baba's devoted servant. While Hassan captures the heart with his simple goodness, Ebrahami has the more difficult task of conveying the complexities of Amir's character - his snobbishness towards his friend at times, his aspirations to be a writer, encouraged by his father's friend Rahim Khan (Shaun Toub); his constant efforts to win the love and approval of his widower father, and also his cowardice, which leads to that betrayal and his subsequent lies.
This is primarily a good story grippingly told, which also opens a window onto aspects of Afghanistan and its culture, which have largely gone unnoticed in recent years, painting as it does on a wide geographical and historical canvas. The film takes us from the bustling and prosperous city of Kabul in the seventies, with the kite running competitions of the title, in which the boys take part, through to the Russian invasion, which forces Baba and Amir to flee to America. There they become part of the Afghan émigré community, which is still holding true to its customs and culture. It is here that Amir courts and marries the daughter of a former general and heals his relationship with his father before returning, via Pakistan, to the now devastated Afghanistan under the Taliban to find Sohrab, the son of his old friend.
There are fine performances all round from actors largely unknown in the West. Abdalla is good as the guilt ridden adult Amir and Ershadi is particularly strong as Baba, a man of deep, unexpressed emotions and secrets.
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