Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

asef_gj I have read "The Kite Runner" book before I see this movie. Seeing this film, I seriously doubted if the screen writer ever read this novel or even noticed what the story is about! I think, he totally changed the story somehow and made this great story to one of the typical below the normal Hollywood films! I believe the hole story was about Amirs extremely guilty conscience and the pain he suffered because of his ignorance during the rape of Hassan by Assef. However, it seem the respectful screen writer and director hardly mentioned this great kind of suffering during this film.

svikasha "The Kite Runner" is a film adaptation of a 2003 novel of the same name. The movie is chock-full of stunning visuals in its depictions of Kabul both before and after the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. But the subject matter of the film is very grim. In "The Kite Runner", the main protagonist is a Pashtun boy named Amir who flees to America with his courageous father after the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to prop up the Communist party of the country in 1979. Amir grew up flying kites which was a common practice among the children of Afghanistan at one time. Amir's "kite runner" was a Hazara boy named Hassan.The "Kite Runner" tells a story of redemption while also depicting the atrocious practice of Bacha Bazi. Bacha Bazi is a slang term for a practice that involves child sexual abuse that takes place in many central Asian countries such as Afghanistan. Under the Taliban's rule from 1994-2001, the practice of Bacha Bazi officially carried the death penalty. It remains illegal under Afghan law today, but the law has always been seldom enforced. This is especially the case against powerful offenders. Bacha Bazi is among the worst forms of theft. It is a theft of a person's innocence. One of the most poignant lines of the film says, ""There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness". Bacha Bazi is a horrendous practice that deserves more attention and condemnation from the international community. Hazaras are an ethnic minority within Afghanistan. Hassan was a member of this minority and worked as Amir's servant. Despite being treated well by Amir and his father, he is tormented by many Pashtuns elsewhere due to stigma. At one point in the film, Hassan is pinned down and raped by the children of prominent Pashtuns in Kabul. Amir "jan", as he is formally called, witnesses this horrific event and doesn't intervene. Instead he attempts to frame Hassan for theft to remove the awkward obstacle of dealing with the event from his life. Decades pass by. Amir Jan escapes Afghanistan and grows up and gets married in sunny California. But the American dream is interrupted when Amir is brought back to Asia by his father's old friend, a humble man named Rahim Khan. Khan informs Amir that Hassan was actually his half-brother. Hassan was eventually murdered by one of his childhood tormenters who had risen to a high rank within the Taliban. Amir's half-nephew, Hassan's young son was taken and forced to become a dancing boy and sexual slave to the high-ranking official within the corrupt Taliban government. The rest of the story is about how Amir rescues his nephew Sohrab from the Taliban. Afghanistan is a tragic place. The country has its own version of strange fruit. One of the most powerful moments in the film happens when the main character reads a letter written by his deceased childhood friend Hassan. As the protagonist reads the letter, a crate of fruit falls as if to represent the lost souls in this desolate land. The first line of the letter reads, Bismillah ir-Rahman ir- Rahim. It loosely translates to "In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate". The letter goes on to say," I've included a picture of me and my son, Sohrab. He's a good boy. Rahim Khan and I taught him how to read and write, so he doesn't grow up stupid like his father. And can he shoot with that slingshot you gave me! But I fear for him, Amir agha. The Afghanistan of our youth is long dead. Kindness is gone from the land, and you cannot escape the killings. Always the killings. I dream that God will guide us to a better day. I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person, a free person, an important person. I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets of Kabul again, and music will play in the samovar houses, and kites will fly in the skies. And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you'll find an old faithful friend waiting for you. May God be with you always. Hassan".

ironhorse_iv A great father & son movie! Based on Khaled Hosseini's fictional novel 'The Kite Runner', the movie is very similar to the author time in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1970s. The country yet been ravaged by the 1980's Soviet invasion and subsequent Taliban rule. The movie is very loyal to the book, and there wasn't much different. The movie starts off with Amir (Khalid Abdalla) recalls an event that happened during his childhood, while living in Afghanistan with his father Baba (Homayoun Ershadi) He had a loyal friend named Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada) who would often run to get his kite for him. One day, Hassan save his life from bullies, during one such kite-battle. Instead of thanking Hassan, the crude child Amir treats him with shame, because of what happen to him, and out of jealousy whenever Hassan receives Amir's father's affection. They slowly drift apart. The story jumps to March 1981, where Amir's family escape Kabul, before the Soviet invasion and find themselves in America. Feeling guilty of the loyal friend, he mistreat and left behind as a child, the more mature adult, Amir go back to Afghanistan to find Hassan and his son Sohrab (Ali Danish Bakhtyari) to help them reach America. Without spoiling too much, the movie is very controversy when filming. First off, the majority of the film's dialogue is in Dari, with the remainder spoken in English. The child actors are native speakers, but several adult actors had to learn Dari. I glad, the movie had sub-titles, even if it's hard to read in some scenes due to blurs or words blending with the background. Another problem was the children who played Hassan, Amir and Sohrab, and a fourth boy with a smaller role, had to be moved out of the country of Afghanistan where they live during the filming due to threats of kidnapping. The rape scene in the film, along with other abuse at the hands of the Taliban, put the young actors and their families in possible danger, as some Afghans found the episode insulting. Not only that, the kid actors were getting paid a lot more money than the people in Afghanistan were used to. I have to say, all the actors were really good. The pacing for the film was a bit long. Honestly, the whole sub-plot of Amir trying to marry Soraya (Atossa Leoni) with or without their parents' permission was bit too added on. It could had been cut to save time. Glad, they cut Amir has problems with the Embassy regarding the adoption of Sohrab, the attempt suicide or the Nazi whattabe bad guy. That sure wasn't needed. The movie use great symbolism here. The kite serves as a symbol of Amir's happiness as well as his guilt. Flying kites is what he enjoys most as a child, not least because it is the only way that he connects fully with his father, who was once a champion kite fighter and his memories of Hassan. I love the Rostam and Sohrab references. One thing, they were missing was the Cleft Lip symbolism. In the novel, it was Hassan's most representative features as a child. When Amir gets an similar permanent scar much like Hassan's. In a sense, Amir's identity becomes merged with Hassan's. He learns to stand up for those he cares about, as Hassan once did for him, and he becomes a father figure to Sohrab. Because of this, it also serves as a sign of Amir's redemption. Sadly, it wasn't mention. Instead, I do love the father/ son relationship. The relationship between Amir & his father are some of the best scenes in the film. You really see the great desire to please his father in every way when as a child. When Amir grows up, you felt the angry toward his father for the lack of it. The movie use irony symbolism in the three acts structure so well. The things that haunted Amir with guilt in the first act, repeat in the three act, giving him another chance of redemption. I love the theme of the search of redemption and the persistence of the past. This is really told, well. The movie also does a great job showing the brutality that destroys Afghanistan. You can clearly see the different between 1973's Afghanistan to that early 2000's Afghanistan. Great use of locations and the way, Director Marc Forster shot it. The music sore is well done by Alberto Iglesias. It was even nominated for an Academy Award in 2007. For a PG-13 movie, it's still a bit disturbing. It's watchable, but do make sure, you keep tissues, near you, as it will leave you with tears. If you like this movie, check out, Khaled Hosseini second book, "A Thousand Splending Suns,". It's worth the read. Overall: There is a way to be good again, and this movie show one great example of that.

Dandio Mama'Africa For my Reading class, I had to read the novel and the film and I would have to say that the film was better because I was able to see all the things in the novel on a screen with graphics. I believe when you see things in action, it's way more better and inspirational. All the characters did a phenomenal job and it was so touching. Although the movie did not point over everything in the novel, it was still a great watch! The sexual scene with Assef, his friends, and Hassan was so touching. It made me want to jump in the TV screen and beat Amir for just watching. I hope people learn from this movie and film. No friend should be treated like this! You are a great writer Khalid!