Quite simply, "The Kite Runner" is magnificent. Based on the acclaimed bestselling novel by Khaled Hosseini, the film is epic in scope, spanning a number of decades, continents, and cultures, and yet it remains intimate and personal in terms of its characters and their stories. It is spectacularly photographed, sensitively directed, hauntingly scored, and impeccably acted by a brilliant cast whose performances are meticulously nuanced. Even the opening credit sequence is fascinating, foreshadowing through calligraphy the differences in Western and Middle Eastern culture that will be a subtheme of the movie.
The story opens in 21st century San Francisco, where a young man from Afghanistan (the charismatic Khalid Abdalla as Amir) has just published his first novel. In flashbacks, he recalls his childhood in Afghanistan, and particularly his relationship with his best friend Hassan, the child of his father's oldest friend and live-in servant. The two boys (played by Zekeria Ebrahemi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, both of whom turn in performances of amazing depth) are eventually driven apart by an act of childish cowardice by the young Amir. They lose contact all together after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, at which time Amir and his father (Homayon Ashadi in a wonderfully understated performance) flee to Pakistan and then eventually to America. Years pass, and then, finally, the adult Amir is provided with an opportunity to redeem himself. The decision that he makes, and the consequences that unfold, bring the story full circle to its powerful conclusion.
I was fortunate enough to see this film as part of a single screening that played to a sold-out audience (dozens and dozens of disappointed cinemagoers ended up being turned away after demand exceeded supply), and expectations were almost impossibly high. Happily, Marc Forster (who also directed "Finding Neverland", "Monster's Ball", and is currently set to direct the 22nd James Bond film) and company satisfied even the most demanding members of the audience, as ripples of gentle laughter gave way to surpised gasps and finally to unsentimental tears as the story unfolded. Here is a film destined to win over audiences and critics alike, one that will undoubtedly end up being one of the year's short list of bona fide masterpieces.
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