Tuesday, January 08, 2008

10 Initial Thoughts on "The Kite Runner" (movie)

1. I liked the movie, and felt like it was a faithful adaptation of the book. David Benioff did an excellent job at transitioning the popular novel from page to screen...his diverse pre and post projects had me a little worried.

2. The story of The Kite Runner is far more plot driven, then say a challenging film adaptation like Atonement, making the film more accessible and certainly easier to adapt.

3. The real challenge of making a movie like The Kite Runner, seems to provide authenticity in terms of place, tone, and pacing. Bringing the various time periods of Kabul to life. Producing stunning performances out of children, first time and international actors. Certainly some great behind the scenes people made that happen.

4. The film version is moving (as the book was), you shouldn't be embarrassed to cry.

5. If you're not going to read the book, see the movie.

6. If you've read the book, I'm sure you'll want to see the movie. See the movie also.

7. Khalid Abdalla did a faithful and appropriate performance in the lead role, while most of the praises I have heard have been directed at one of the younger stars (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) while, I was most impressed myself with Homayoun Ershadi, who played the part of Baba.

8. Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias certainly deserves a second academy award nomination for his scoring for this film.

9. I think this is a great addition to Marc Forster's diverse resume. I hope he pleases with the next edition of James Bond, and that he continues to make unique films.

10. The theater I saw the film in was packed, but the majority of the audience was people past retirement age, I wonder if this is a unique experience, or if others experienced this as well. I felt like most of the elderly crowd in the theater has also read the book based on the post film discussions.

6 comments:

RJ said...

Honestly, I thought the film was good, but never great

Anonymous said...

Our theater was packed. Every seat was taken. I'd say the retirement crowd made up about 85% of the audience. But it was a matinee on a Friday.

Oh, and I wasn't embarassed to cry. Especially at the end. "For you, a thousands times over."

Glad you enjoyed it.

AK said...

Anthony was supposed to tell you that all of the scenes that took place in Afghanistan were filmed right where I spent my summer in China. It was weird because the market scenes seemed really familiar and then we saw at the end the it was filmed there. How crazy is that? Just thought you would be interested to know.

Anonymous said...

I intend to see the movie and read the book. I usually like to read the book first, like I did with another Afghanistan themed story, Charlie Wilson's War, but I may not have time to do that to see this movie in the theater. Having both seen and read, how do you think that will affect my experience?

Matt Singley said...

I did not read the book, although my wife did and still wants me to.

We saw the movie together, and yes, I even cried at the end. Of course I covered it up with a manly grunt and wiping of my eyes like my glasses were bothering me...but what was the point?

It was a very good film.

One Wink at a Time said...

This was on of my favorite books of all time, although I had a heck of a time getting in to it. I think I can't wait to see the film version. (Sometimes movies cange my initial perceptions and not always for the better.) The story is a wonderful glimpse at humanity at it's best and worst.