The Kite Runner

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The furore surrounding the making of this film is no secret: first-time child actors Mahmidzada and Ebrahimi have taken so much flak for their roles in their own country, the producers have been forced to move them to UAE and fund their education until they're eighteen. Adapted from Khaled Hosseini's novel by Troy scribe David Benioff, The Kite Runner is a simple story of two friends growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, in the late '70s. The wealthy Amir (Ebrahimi) and his servant friend Hassan (Mahmidzada) are inseparable soul mates and champion kite flyers. However, when Hassan is raped by older boys, Amir, who witnessed the ordeal but was too paralysed by fear to help his friend, rejects Hassan and destroys the relationship. Years later, after Amir and his father (Erdshadi) flee the Russian invasion and land in America, the guilt-ridden Amir gets his chance to right his wrong. The well-intentioned but overly melodramatic Kite Runner is a film of two halves: an enriching and sentimental journey into complex relationships (Amir fears his father blames him for his mother's death; Amir and Hassan, not only are servant and master, they come from different tribes), the wondrous kite scenes and the beautifully shot Kabul (China doubling for the Afghan capital). In the second half, however, the film hits a wall, turns into Not Without My Daughter and switches from engaging to the ordinary. If this film were to be graded on acting alone, it would get top marks: everyone, bar the so-so Abdalla, turn in subtle, deft and believable performances.