Big Picture Big Sound

The "Kite" Stuff

At his best ("Monster's Ball"), Marc Forster is not the most subtle director. At his worst ("Stay"), the term "ham-handed" comes to mind. With "The Kite Runner" - Mr. Forster's gently moving adaptation of the best seller by Khaled Hosseini - the director strikes a happy balance between his over-the-top instincts (witness Alberto Iglesias' pushy score) and a respect for the material.

The film, which tells the story of two Afghani boys separated by class and one dreadful secret, jumps between time (late 70s, 80s and 2000) and place (Kabul, Pakistan, San Francisco). When the action takes place in the Middle East, Mr. Forster subtly frames his scenes from right-to-left, as his subjects might prefer them. When the story shifts to America, the director reverts back to the familiar left-to-right. The technique has the effect of setting the viewer slightly off balance. Your eye has to work and search the frame. It's not a gimmick, it's a choice (conscious or not) and surprisingly, the result is more engrossing than distracting. It has the effect of planting the viewer in this largely alien environment.

The idea of Afghanistan in 1978 is fascinating in and of itself. Nowadays, the name Kabul is almost synonymous with "war-torn". But in the film's time period, the city is like any other, blissfully unaware of the catastrophes yet to befall it. Children play in the streets, adults go to work, and everyone turns out to see the kite-flying competition (to be honest, as shown in the film, it looks pretty amazing).

Amir and Hassan (newcomers Zekiria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada) are the two boys in question. Amir is of the ruling Pashtun class and Hassan is Hazara, second-class citizens relegated to servitude. The two appear to be brothers-in-arms, but their loyalty is called into question by some older boys led by Assef (Elham Ehsas), who calls for a kind of ethnic cleansing of the Hazara. Amir and Hassan immerse themselves in competitive kite-flying (where one kite is used to cut the string of another). Hassan, it turns out, has an innate talent for kite running - correctly predicting where a felled kite will land. These scenes are exhilarating. Seamless special effects are used to follow the kites as they swoop and soar in an aerial ballet that will make any audience member recall the carefree days of youth.

One day, Hassan chases a kite down the wrong dark alley and is brutalized by Assef. Amir's reaction to the attack haunts him all his life and forms the catalyst for "Kite Runner".

The script by David Benioff ("Stay", "25th Hour", "Troy") does an admirable job of condensing multiple characters and time periods into a cohesive two hours. The writer and his director also take pains to bring the Afghani culture to life, specifically when it comes to questions of pride and honor. Amir's father Baba typifies these ideas. He is powerfully portrayed by Homayoun Ershadi. Baba is one of the old guard - bound by a devotion to honor. Mr. Ershadi is given many chances to shine in the role and he does so beautifully - at a perilous border crossing and later in life making his way in America.

The film's faults can hardly be blamed on the writer or director. "The Kite Runner" quite simply has a very difficult protagonist in Amir. Even after the transgressions of his youth, he grows into a mouse of a man (played by Khalid Abdalla). His chance for redemption in the film's (and book's) final act strains credulity and, like the film, doesn't pack enough of an emotional punch. Still, "Kite Runner" flies high much of its running time - even if it never quite soars.