<p>Subject says it all. Outstanding movie.</p>
<p>I’d like to hear any opinions from people who read the book, then saw the movie. How is the accuracy? Do you feel the book was in anyway ‘compromised’ to make this a feature film? </p>
<p>I enjoyed the book so much, I just don’t want to lose the inspiration if the movie doesn’t follow along.</p>
<p>I heard my daughter said it’s a good book.</p>
<p>Have not seen the movie yet, but I did read the book. According to my sister in law, the movie follows the book very well. Sorry I don’t have more details.</p>
<p>H and I have both read the book and just saw the movie last Friday. It did an excellent job of following all of the critical points of the book. About the biggest detail omitted was that Hassan did not have the cleft lip and surgery (for his birthday) that the book talks about.</p>
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<p>Hmmmm… as someone born with both a cleft lip and palate (who had the best plastic surgeon possible so that hardly anyone notices, even other physicians until I tell them) I wonder how I will feel about that detail being omitted. And I wonder why they omitted it.</p>
<p>I read the book and saw the movie. I agree, the movie stayed pretty faithful to the book. Some differences obviously, but none that substantially change the story cleft lip notwithstanding.</p>
<p>second OP. It’s probably one of the best movie’s of 2007. I liked the book too. well I thought I did. At the end of the movie, my friend and I turned to each other and said “I don’t think I finished it because I didn’t remember half that part of the story” oops. Better finish it now.</p>
<p>teriwtt wrote:
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<p>I was concerned that they would not do a great job of portraying the tortured nature of Amir’s relationship with his dad as compared to how his dad felt about Hassan. But I guess they had to make the movie shorter somehow (and it was certainly pretty long!) plus finding a child actor who could be realistically made up to have a cleft-lip appearance might have been an additional hurdle to overcome… Even given that they left that out it does a good job of portryaing the strain in the relationships, I think. Though I absolutely was ANGRY at the Amir character when I was reading the book (about when they were children), and I would be interested to know if people watching the movie who had not read the book would have that strong a reaction to how things were presented there…</p>
<p>Movies are so visual. I would love to know if the directors tried it both ways, with and without a cleft lip. It could be the acting too difficult to accomplish. So many close-ups. </p>
<p>Acting that role is quite a challenge for any young actor, with or without a facial imperfection. It could distract a viewer from other issues and emotions, scene after scene. Just pondering. </p>
<p>I like when directors discuss those choices on tape. I know that whenever I think of Gorbachov (sppp???), the first thought that pops into my head is that port wine stain on his forehead, not his foreign policy.</p>
<p>Kite Runner was on many h.s. summer reading lists, so now kids can see the movie to compare.</p>
<p>Next, I want someone to make a film out of “Reading Lolita in Teheran.”</p>
<p>OK - I stand corrected. I missed the part of an earlier post where it states Hassan doesn’t even have a cleft lip in the film. I first read it to say he had one, but they don’t correct it in the movie. Now I understand your response P3T, and can see the challenges involved. I, too, would be interested in hearing from the directors as to why they omitted that imperfection of Hassans. When I initially read the book and learned they were making a movie, I wondered how they would portray this. Just from my own experience, I know the embarassment and shame involved in being that member of the family that everyone stares at - well, I just heard stories; by the time I was old enough to know, most of the reconstructive surgeries had been done. My older brother (16-years older than me) tells a story of my baptism - there was another baby being baptized at church the same day I was; he recalls the family sitting in the pew in front of my family turning around and staring at me (his perception); anyway, he says it was the first time he remembers seeing my mother cry. So I know my mom had some serious issues with my defect until it was corrected; thankfully, like I said earlier, I had THE top-notch plastic surgeon in the world for my repair work (thank you Texas Medical Center), and other than some heavy duty orthodontics throughout my childhood, it wasn’t too traumatic. So, I guess I understood the ramifications of creating a fictional character with an obvious birth defect and the impact the author intended to create - especially for a child for whom surgery wasn’t attempted until much later than mine was. I think a movie made with Hassan’s character having the cleft lip would have been very, very different, especially to people who have not read the book.</p>
<p>I just finished reading The Kite Runner last week, and saw the film today. It was shot and edited beautifully, but I am sad to report that many key items were missing and therefore the storyline felt watered down, for me. </p>
<p>I’m glad I read the book first as it had a huge impact on me, the film left me wanting more.</p>
<p>Spoiler here…completely left out of the film, the major struggle Amir had getting Sohrab out of the country and Sohrab’s subsequent suicide attempt. In my opinion those are key elements. </p>
<p>I will say the little boy who played Hassan as a boy was amazing. This was his first film. He was wonderful.</p>