Kite Runner - the movie

Here comes another blog post about The Kite Runner.

In 2007 the bestselling novel “The Kite Runner”, was made into a film. I had many expectations to this film as well as the many enchanted readers of “the kite runner”. How would the producers and the director capture Hosseini’s unique description of Kabul, the life and Hassan and Amir’s friendship? I hoped for the best, but I (and probably most of the ones watching after reading!) left disappointed.

The feeling of being in Kabul and watching Amir’s life, that you almost can touch when you read the book, is not present in Marc Forsters filmversion. It is mostly a endless row of scenes (parts of the book) passing by without leaving a trace or feeling behind, except for disappointment and irritation. Some scenes made an impression, thanks to the memories from the book being recreated. Kabul seems very fake, without any real life, just a coulisse. If someone isn’t careful behind the walls, it will just fall apart.

The actor of Amir is ok, but Baba andthe older Assef could have been done much better. Baba isn’t the charismatic person he is known for and his “hate”, or anger towards Amir isn’t very clear. And when Hassan and Ali leaves why doesn’t he yell, scream or beg? There are no emotions. However Assef should be more calm. The older Taliban version of Assef should be more malicious and relaxed. He wants revenge, but now he has got all the power. There is nothing Amir can do to stop him, so Assef’s got all the time in the world and he wants to enjoy his revenge. That, however, does not happen. He just screams out his explanation and begin to hit Amir. There isn’t even time for the surprising laugh from Amir, when his conscience is finally clean. And no time for Sohrab to actually know who Amir is…

This is a great example of a bad adaptation from book to movie. And that is just sad for the “bookfans”, cause they are probably the only ones who have to see it.