When reading Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, the reader will venture on the journey of Amir’s twisted life. They will experience his guilt, his sins, his love, and his desire to be good again. Director Marc Forster brought this heart-breaking novel to the big screen in 2007, casting Khalid Abdalla as the middle aged Amir and Ali Danish Bakhtyari as Sohrab. The movie and the novel have many things in common that make this movie as enjoyable as the book, even if there are a lot of minor differences.
For starters, let’s analyze the differences between the two. The structure of the movie is slightly off compared to the book. In the novel, the first chapter is Amir discussing the phone call he received from Rahim Khan. However, in the movie, Amir picks up the phone before the flashback happens. From there we see the young Amir and young Hassan living out their lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. When Amir begins to write his own stories, Rahim Khan’s entrance into this portion of Amir’s life differs. In the movie, Rahim Khan invites himself in, whereas in the book he only enters when Baba ignores Amir’s newly found talent. Little differences like this are littered throughout the movie. Some major differences include Amir’s age when he travels to the United States and Amir’s adventure back in Afghanistan. In the novel, Amir is eighteen when he leaves with his father for the United States. While Amir is in Afghanistan, the plot is extremely skewed. In the novel, Amir goes to Afghanistan to visit the dying Rahim Khan, with the only inspiration being Rahim Khan’s words, “There is a way to be good again.” When Amir gets there, he learns of Hassan’s death and his orphan son. In the movie he does acquire this information, but the reveal is less emotional than the book. In the novel, Rahim Khan tricks Amir into going for Sohrab by saying there is an orphanage run by a couple of Americans who will surely take him in. In the movie, they jump right to the case and flat out tell Amir to adopt Sohrab, missing the element of deceit and Amir’s inner struggle. Amir’s trek to acquire Sohrab from Assef’s clutches is about the same as the novel, until Sohrab and Amir leave Assef’s office. In the novel, Amir is so badly injured that he is in the hospital for days on end, whereas in the movie he suffers from minor injuries. Also, the movie cuts out Sohrab’s fear of orphanages, which leads to Sohrab’s attempt at suicide, that being the whole reason Sohrab shuts himself away from the rest of the world once he gets to the United States with Amir. Even though the ending of the movie changes from the novel, both forms of this story share many common details. The movie did a great job of depicting Amir, as well as keeping true to the Farsi language spoken in Afghanistan. The movie depicts Amir’s last kite fight as a child perfectly, even including Hassan’s tragic punishment from Assef and his ‘friends.’ They keep true to the overall plot by sending Baba and Amir to America, where Baba soon dies of cancer and Amir marries Soraya. They include Baba’s growing pride for his son while Amir graduates and gets married. The movie stays true to Amir’s visit with Rahim Khan, and even include the important fact that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers. Even though minor details still take away from the performance, Marc Forster’s interpretation of The Kite Runner stayed accurate to the novel for most of the movie. The ending was skewed, though that could be because of run time. There are definitely elements that could have made the movie more accurate to the novel, but the movie is still as enjoyable as the novel.
0 Comments
In Khaled Hosseini’s novel, the Kite Runner, Amir demonstrates the dynamic change in the relationship he has with his father before and after death. In the beginning of the novel, their relationship is very static. Baba is a very distant father who seems disappointed that Amir is even alive. Amir tries his best to try and be the son Baba wants, but to no avail can he accomplish this task. Amir and Baba’s relationship is so disappointing that Amir becomes jealous of Hassan and Baba’s affections towards the Hazara. All Amir strives for is time alone with Baba to prove himself worthy of his father’s love. It is only when Amir wins a kite fight tournament that Baba finally believes he has something to be proud of. However, this is just a little bump in their relationship, which quickly flatlines again due to the heavy guilt that befalls Amir after the kite fight tournament. Their relationship only improves with their evacuation to the United States, where Amir can run away from all the demons that caused his relationship with Baba to even quiver.
Once in the United States, Baba’s relationship with Amir seems to take off quite well. With it just being he and his father, Amir finally can prove himself. In the United States, Amir graduates high school, becomes an author, and even gets married. All of these titanic events bond Amir and Baba together, even persuading Baba to say, “I am moftakkhir, Amir. Proud.” (Pg 131) This is the peak of their relationship. In this time, Amir cannot believe that his life could falter any more. However, there is a new change in the relationship that waver some; Baba’s cancer. Through Baba’s last days, he does what he can to make it up to his son. Baba performs his duty as a father and lives long enough to see Amir and his bride, Soraya, marry. Baba, the stubborn, prideful Pashtun, does what he can to pay for his sins, even though the bill still lies on Amir. When Baba dies, Amir thinks highly of his stubborn father, but his trip to Afghanistan at the request of Rahim Khan changes that. While in Afghanistan, Amir learns of the sin he executed to preserve his education, leading to Amir’s relationship with his father to drop so far. Amir had been robbed of a brother and a guileless future, and his father was the thief. How could he respect a man who did all that to him? Some would argue that their relationship was static, that Baba never respected his son enough to tell him the truth. They would argue that Amir’s real father figure was Rahim Khan. However, Baba was still a father to Amir, and eventually Baba did get the son he wanted from the son he legally had to claim. Amir was his guide in the new, strange, life they lived in America. When Baba died, he was proud of Amir, but the same could never be said of Amir about his pride and respect for his father when he dies. Their relationship was ever changing, even after one of them died. Lights, camera, action! William Shakespeare’s famous play, the Tragedy of Macbeth, is reborn to the public as a drama from PBS’s Great Performances, titled Macbeth. This regeneration of the Thane of Glamis takes place in the early 1940s, primarily in Scotland, but briefly in England. Here we follow the story of Macbeth, portrayed by Sir Patrick Stewart, and his rise to insanity with his wife, Lady Macbeth, portrayed by Kate Fleetwood. We begin this story in the depths of Dunsinane, learning that war is over and a traitor is to be killed. It is here where we meet Shakespeare’s three witches, disguised as war nurses. These witches will control Macbeth’s life till his last breath. In an eldritch fashion, these witches propose a future to the Thane of Glamis that he cannot possibly refuse; the chance to be king. Amused by the idea, Macbeth informs his wife of the absurd prediction, but she sees it as no conjecture. With the words, “Your hand, your tongue: look like th’ innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t. He that’s coming Must be provided for: and you shall put This night’s great business into my dispatch; Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom,” (Act I, Scene V, Lines 65-70) Lady Macbeth institutes the rest of the play. This line is the beginning of their insanity, their greed, and their untimely end. Lady Macbeth’s words lead to the murder of King Duncan of Scotland, the murder of the noble Banquo (Martin Turner), Macduff’s family (Suzanne Burden, Hugo Docking, Lillian and Madeleine Dummer), and the murder of many innocent lives. Macbeth turns from a nobleman of Scotland to its demonic dictator. While watching Macbeth, director Rupert Goold made it a point to focus on each character when they had something to say. With this being a Shakespeare original, it can be hard to follow who is saying what, which makes this aspect of filming a vital characteristic. When Stewart is reciting one of Macbeth’s soliloquies, the viewer is not distracted by the mess of people on screen. They see Macbeth and only Macbeth. Goold’s use of colors is also a key aspect to this movie. The use of colors was extremely important for the movie, especially during Macbeth’s dinner party with the ghost of Banquo. During the joyous scenes of the banquet, the actors are surrounded by warm oranges and reds. However, when Macbeth witnesses the dreaded ghost of Banquo, all colors die into a mess of grey and blue, casting an unnatural presence upon the viewer as well as Sir Patrick Stewart. The colors correlate with the characters moods perfectly. This adaptation of the Tragedy of Macbeth, I will admit, is not my favorite. The production of the movie was well kept, helping viewers decipher the characters intentions with colors and focus, but it was not word for word. This movie is 160 minutes long. If they are willing to pass the two hour mark, they might as well keep everything from the original tragedy in the final cut. They skip over some scenes and lines such as the Son’s famous line, “He has killed me, mother: Run away, I pray you!” (Act IV, Scene II, Lines 83-84) as well as any scene with the witches’ leader, Hecate. They do keep true to the language for the rest of the play, however. I have mixed feelings about this adaptation, so if you are considering watching this movie, read Shakespeare’s the Tragedy of Macbeth, first. |
Archives
August 2017
Categories |