DVD Review: High praises for "The Kite Runner"

"The Kite Runner" is based on the bestseller by the same title, authored by Khaled Hosseini.  Marc Forster is the German-born, Swiss director of the film.  The movie stayed true to the novel while omitting some of the storyline.

The story begins with two young boys; 12-year old Amir (Zekiria Ebrahimi) who struggles for the affections and attentions of his father Baba (Homayoun Ershadi), who identifies more with Kamir's companion/servant, Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada).  Amir is gentle and will not fight.  Hassan is full of spirit and is known to have stood up for Amir more than once on the streets.

Amir wants to please his father.  He and Hassan enter the annual kite-fighting competition in Kabul.  They are victorious, and Hassan is willing to run down the final kite for his friend as a trophy.  Amir waits for Hassan, but after searching for him he finds that older boys of a higher class have cornered Hassan and raped him for being a servant's son.

This event haunts Amir over the years as he and his father leave Afghanistan during the Soviet Union's assault on the country.  Amir grows to be a man in the United States.  He tries desperately to find a way to make himself get over not telling anyone what happened to Hassan and for turning his back on his best friend.

One day, after he has married and written a book (much as he wrote stories during his childhood), he is faced with a letter from Hassan in which he is asked to return to Kabul and to care for Hassan's son, Soraya (Atossa Leoni).

Amir travels to Pakistan and smuggles himself into Taliban-controlled Kabul.  He searches for the boy in an orphanage and finds out that a local Taliban leader buys children from the orphanage for pleasure.  Amir is determined to find Soraya.  He risks his life to get to the boy and take him home to America.

The journey there and back is well worth his expense.

This movie is a moving portrayal of the trials of friendship, the loyalty of family, the hardships of war.  It touches you in ways that remembering your best friend can.  Amir's finding of Soraya and his sharing of kite flying at the end of the movie is touching.

On a one-to-ten scale (ten being the best movie of the year) I give this movie an 8 1/2.

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Christina Rivers