Benny Profane
11-19-2007, 04:41 PM
http://i.cnn.net/money/galleries/2007/news/0709/gallery.fallmovies/images/movies_kiterunner.jpg
This film is based on the novel about an aspiring Afghani writer who has immigrated to America with his father after the Soviet invasion. For those of you who have read the bestseller, it's a very faithful adaptation. This means that the issues I had with the movie are the same I had with the book. The third act is borderline ridiculous with all the coincidences and repetition of the first act. If you take it as a sentimental fairy tale on guilt and redemption and not a realistic story then it may work better for you.
I think a lot of this has to do with the author, who like the protagonist Amir, fled Afghanistan early in childhood during the Soviet invasion. Since this is his first novel, you can assume that much of it is autobiorgraphical.
The film is divided into thirds. The first third deals with the two main characters Amir and Hassan during their childhood in Kabul. Hassan is Amir's servant-friend, and he is so devoted and perfect and wonderful to Amir, even though it turns out the feeling isn't reciprocated. This part of the novel felt very real because you can tell the author actually lived through this.
The second third of the film deals with the adjustments made to life in America, and Amir meeting his future bride. This section also rings true.
It's the third act when Amir is called back to his homeland during the Taliban reign to right all the wrongs of his past is where the story takes all of its missteps. Obviously, the author Hosseini never went back to Afghanistan to witness firsthand the atrocities of the Taliban, and it's easy to tell he's writing from second-hand sources.
I don't want to spoil what happens when he gets back to Afghanistan, but let's just say that it's lazy. The redemption of Amir, and how it transpires, and who he's there to see and ends up seeing, fits too nicely inside a standard storytelling framework, hence the labeling of this film as a trite fairy tale and little more. Much like Forster's Finding Neverland, this ain't for anyone with the slightest bit of cynicism.
Maybe many of you have heard but the release of the film was delayed due to an "immoral" scene in the beginning of the scene, and the child actors were secretly moved out of Afghanistan for fear of their safety. Just an interesting little tidbit.
This film is based on the novel about an aspiring Afghani writer who has immigrated to America with his father after the Soviet invasion. For those of you who have read the bestseller, it's a very faithful adaptation. This means that the issues I had with the movie are the same I had with the book. The third act is borderline ridiculous with all the coincidences and repetition of the first act. If you take it as a sentimental fairy tale on guilt and redemption and not a realistic story then it may work better for you.
I think a lot of this has to do with the author, who like the protagonist Amir, fled Afghanistan early in childhood during the Soviet invasion. Since this is his first novel, you can assume that much of it is autobiorgraphical.
The film is divided into thirds. The first third deals with the two main characters Amir and Hassan during their childhood in Kabul. Hassan is Amir's servant-friend, and he is so devoted and perfect and wonderful to Amir, even though it turns out the feeling isn't reciprocated. This part of the novel felt very real because you can tell the author actually lived through this.
The second third of the film deals with the adjustments made to life in America, and Amir meeting his future bride. This section also rings true.
It's the third act when Amir is called back to his homeland during the Taliban reign to right all the wrongs of his past is where the story takes all of its missteps. Obviously, the author Hosseini never went back to Afghanistan to witness firsthand the atrocities of the Taliban, and it's easy to tell he's writing from second-hand sources.
I don't want to spoil what happens when he gets back to Afghanistan, but let's just say that it's lazy. The redemption of Amir, and how it transpires, and who he's there to see and ends up seeing, fits too nicely inside a standard storytelling framework, hence the labeling of this film as a trite fairy tale and little more. Much like Forster's Finding Neverland, this ain't for anyone with the slightest bit of cynicism.
Maybe many of you have heard but the release of the film was delayed due to an "immoral" scene in the beginning of the scene, and the child actors were secretly moved out of Afghanistan for fear of their safety. Just an interesting little tidbit.