The Kite Runner

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Fans of Khaled Hosseini's international bestseller "The Kite Runner" will not be disappointed and should find the film version (Paramount Vantage) a richly satisfying adaptation, despite screenwriter David Benioff's necessary abridgement of some events.

The film, quite superb in every way, opens in the year 2000. Amir (Khalid Abdalla), an Afghan writer now living in the United States, has just had his first book printed, and a shipment has arrived from the publisher. His excitement is undercut by a call from his father's old friend, Rahmin Khan (Shaun Toub), entreating him to visit him overseas.

Amir thinks back to his childhood in 1970s Afghanistan. Now played by Zekiria Ebrahimi, young Amir lived with his father, Baba (Homayoun Ershadi), spending endless days playing with his best friend Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada), the small but feisty son of his father's longtime servant Ali (Nabi Tanha).

The boys spend their days watching American Westerns like "The Magnificent Seven" at the local cinema, and flying their kites (a major pastime there) high above Kabul. Amir, an otherwise solitary boy who thinks his father hates him for causing the death of his mother during childbirth, is unassertive and lets the quick-witted, slingshot-savvy Hassan fight his battles. Kindhearted Rahmin takes an interest in Amir and seems to understand the boy's pain.

One day after Amir has a tremendous victory with his kite, Hassan runs off to retrieve it some distance away, and is set upon by Assef (Elham Ehsas) who has an issue with the boy's Hazara minority status. Together with two cronies, he beats and sexually assaults the boy. (This brief scene -- the cause of some controversy from Aghan extremists -- is executed with the utmost discretion. There's no nudity, and a casual viewer might not even realize the assault is sexual.)

Amir, meanwhile, has witnessed the attack, but has done nothing. Beset by so much guilt afterward, he paradoxically begins to treat Hassan with disdain, and in an act of heinous betrayal, frames Hassan for the theft of his watch. Over Baba's protestations, Ali takes his son, and they leave for good.

The Soviets eventually invade Afghanistan, prompting Baba to flee with Amir.

Amir grows up -- an aspiring writer, now living with his graying father who's developed a weak heart -- and falls in love with Soraya (Atossa Leoni), the daughter of a hard-line Afghan known as the General (Abdul Qadir Farookh).

The call from Rahmin will give Amir a chance to atone for his misdeed in a way he never could have imagined, a mission that will bring him back to a greatly changed Afghanistan.

Under Marc Forster's sensitive direction, the beautifully acted film provides a fascinating portrait of pre- and post-Taliban Afghanistan, such as we rarely get to see.

Despite the lack of recognizable names, "The Kite Runner" has fine human values, a strong affirmation of friendship and family, and a redemptive ending that should move even the most stone-hearted. The positive depiction of pre-Soviet War Afghanistan and Islam should help dispel negative stereotypes.

This is a rare cinematic experience that should not be missed.

In Dari and English. Partially subtitled.

The film has a single profanity and use of the f-word, a brief rape scene with no nudity involving a small boy and a bully, two discreetly worded sexual references, an illegitimacy theme, a violent beating and a woman's stoning. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults (though acceptable for older teens). The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops