Rama’s SCREEN

I’m a big fan of the novel. I read it some time ago and I’m still floored even now by how powerful the story is, which was why I was really looking forward to see the movie adaptation and to tell you the truth… I was not disappointed at all. Director Marc Forster, known for helming projects with heavy stories like Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland showed the audiences why he was the right man for the Kite Runner job.

Amir and Hasan grew up in Afghanistan and they loved playing kites. Amir was from the wealthy family and Hasan was the poor one and from a different tribe. Their friendship ended over something that Amir saw happened but did not have the courage to speak up against. Years later Amir would have the second chance to make things right and pay for his past mistakes.

I understand it is a difficult task to bring a beloved story to the big screen. Many fans of the book wouldn’t wait to just crucify you if you made one mistake. But I think screenwriter David Benioff did excellent in selecting the most crucial points from the book and compiling them in a way that would support the flow and not go astray for the purpose of it all, which is the objective of filmmakers when handling dramas like this one,… to aim straight for the heart.

There’s a rape scene that might make you uncomfortable but you’ll realize that it’s vital in telling it the way it is.
Director Marc Forster presented it very subtle and yet he didn’t hide how evil and ugly the act was.
Those who have not read the book would appreciate the extra effort the production showed to bring us a picture Afghanistan in the late 70s.
The CGI work on the kites was, I’m not gonna lie,… pretty awesome.
I grew up with neighbors who loved flying kites and it has never looked this exciting.
The acting wasn’t the greatest but I think the child stars who played the main characters did a decent job.

Marc Forster knows how to display tragedy and at the same time inject some light humor.
It could hold your attention tight but also loosen the grip for you to breathe.

I highly recommend this movie, I think if you ended 2007 without seeing the movie THE KITE RUNNER, then you’d be missing out a lot. Even more than that, I hope that you’d read the book because it has great lessons of integrity, redemption, and family.

* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my grade for this film