Book vs. Movie

Everyone says “a picture is worth a thousand words” and that so much can be incorporated into a film with unlimited possibilities yet this screening did not seem to reach its potential. When I first picked up the book, I did not have high expectations yet with each turn of the page my expectations were heightened by the way the story unfolded and came together. It was just so powerful that I put those expectations on the movie. Even though I had seen the movie three years ago, it was almost as if I had amnesia because the book made me forget what actually happened in the movie and hopeful that the movie would be almost as good as the book. By the end of the first scene, I was completely disappointed in the movie’s representation of The Kite Runner. There are many things that made this movie so vastly different from the book. The lack of emotions, background story, and incorrect sequencing did not fully capture the relationships that were being paralleled.

            The first thing that caught my eye when watching the movie was the fact that the dates were different than the ones in the book. It made the movie seem out of touch than the book. Even though the movies are different than the books, I would have expected that the dates would have matched those from the book. Also, the sequencing in the movie was off. Certain events that occurred later in the book occurred earlier. As I continued watching the movie, I did not get the feeling that Amir and Hassan had done everything together and were very close but at the same time distant. To me, the lack of background information throughout the movie made it difficult to understand what was truly going on in the story or what the story was actually about. The movie made it seem that Amir and Hassan were two boys who grew up together, had a rough patch, and then never spoke again.

            There are many things I would have changed about the movie to make it a little more similar to the book. Some of the cast did not match how I pictured certain people in the book. Little details about certain characters were left off which bothered me. There was no distinction between the way Amir and Hassan looked, besides their clothing, in the movie. While reading the book, I imagined Hassan shorter than the boy who was casted in the movie. In the book, Hassan was given a cleft lip and for his birthday Baba had his cleft lip fixed that left a scar. In the movie, Hassan did not seem to have any birth defects and Baba had given Hassan a kite, which the two boys flew in the kite tournament. To me, it did not fully capture Baba’s love for Hassan as the book did. The scene where Rahim Khan asks to read Amir’s story was completely different than the book. Again, there was no concept that Amir strived to please his father, there did not seem to be any jealousy towards Hassan, and there was no comparison between the two boys. As I watched the movie, there were certain scenes where I thought should have had more emotion to allow the viewer to feel what the characters felt at that particular moment. I felt that at certain points the man who played Amir should have been narrating and giving at least some background information.

            In my opinion, the book was more enjoyable than the movie. The book was able to tug at your emotions and you were able to relate to the characters where as in the movie, it was just another story between two childhood friends who grew apart after one had left. The movie seemed as if it was a collection of clips that were pieced together and not placed correctly. It seemed boring.

Movie versus Book

Overall, the movie did a good job accurately describing the tone and movie and capturing certain details that were explicit in the book. From the perspective of someone not knowing the issues with the Russian invasion or the dichotomy between Hazara and Pashtun, I think movie does a good job at giving insight to the background of the Afghan culture. I appreciated that the movie kept in certain details and lines directly from the book which really complete the story. The part where Hassan comments about why Amir’s character did not just smell onions to get the pearls, or when Rahim Khan tell’s Baba that children are not coloring books that you can fill in with your favorite color are small details yet really important to the character development. The movie even went as far to put the details of coating the kite string to make it better in the kite flying tournament, and Baba pushing his Russian doctor away from him. In the movie Baba did not give Hassan the surgery for his lip his birthday, but instead takes him out to get a kite. I think that the director used that to find a way to show viewers the liveliness and beauty of Kabul, because the contrast between post and pre war were more than evident after Amir returns back. After Amir goes back home the city was completely dark and tense which was the complete opposite of how it was in his childhood. 

One of my favorite things about the movie that the book is unable to do was that they actually spoke their language. This made the movie so much more authentic and thought it was a really good choice by whoever made the movie. I bet finding bilingual actors made the initial making of this movie even more difficult. 

The most noticeable thing that the movie left out was how everything happened after Amir got Sohrab. A really emotional and intense part of the book for many readers was Sohrab’s suicide attempt. Without that scene you still got a good sense of Sohrab’s pain especially when he talked about not wanting his parents to be alive to see him  dirty and full of sin. The director probably thought that the same core meaning of the book was not lost when taking out that scene and it would have been flat to watch Amir make phone calls about getting Sohrab into America. It would have been nice to keep that scene, but to do that it would extend the movie with some details that the director thought were unnecessary or simply too long. If the suicide attempt was kept in the movie then all the issues about paperwork and visas would have to be added and if they  did not do it complete and right I’m glad they did not do it at all because thats not the type of heavy subject that should be rushed through. 

Comment on Max's

      I agree with Max in that Hassan should have had a cleft lip in the movie as well. Because this was not included, the scene in which Baba buys him a surgery for his birthday was also eliminated. The surgery is a huge sign that Baba cares about Hassan as much as Amir. This action by Baba is a key element in the story that depicts his love for his second son. It was probably not included in the movie because it is hard to resemble a cleft lip, but I feel that it would have added a lot to the portrayal of their relationship.
      I was also surprised by the fact that Sohrab's suicide was not included in the movie. I find that scene to be one of the most emotional and important parts of the movie, as it demonstrates how all of the hardships that this young boy has been through finally take a toll on him. He is sick of all of the disappointments, and nostalgic of his old life, which pushes him to try to kill himself. Also, his suicide makes Amir pray and it is what leads him to become religious. Because Sohrab survived, Amir becomes a highly religious person, and that is an aspect of the novel that should have been included in the movie.

Movie vs Book

     There are many intricate details from the novel "The Kite Runner" that were excluded from the production of the movie. First, when creating the movie the director choose to start the movie when Amir is making a phone call to Rahim Kahn. However, in the novel it shows Amir in an interview. In my opinion, this was a good choice by the director. I think that showing that he was in a dilemma as an adult made it so the viewer of the picture wanted to know what was the cause of this problem.
     The second detail that was left out by the director was the fact that Hassan had a cleft palate. In the novel, Baba takes Hassan to get his cleft palate fixed for his birthday out of love. This is a present that would last a lifetime. Contrary to the novel, the film shows Baba buying Hassan a kite on his birthday. I did not particularly like this because it took away from the fact that Baba put lots of thought and care into his present. It was not an object, rather something out of love.
     Another aspect of the novel that was left out by the director of the movie was that Sorhab tried to kill himself. Although I understand the fact that he might not have wanted to show something so graphic into the book, I think that it is something that is very important into setting up the relationship between Amir and Sorhab. It reinforced the idea that Sorhab would have rather killed himself than go back to an orphanage.
     Overall, I enjoyed reading the book more than I enjoyed the movie. The small details that were included in the book made the book so enjoyable. It also made the book realistic. In my opinion, directors should start to pay more attention to the actual storyline of the books and not digress from them too much. Sometimes the small details make something enjoyable as a whole.

Book and Movie Comparison

Book to Film Comparison

What struck me as most different from the book to movie adaptation was the exclusion of Sohrab's suicide. At first, I thought perhaps the filmmakers chose to do this because a child's suicide can be quite graphic and scarring. However, after pondering this I realized they did not seem to have any qualms about the rape scene. Perhaps this is because the rape was, in essence, the central event that spurred the novel and therefore had to be shown.
After thinking about it, though, I think the primary reason for the decision to remove the suicide scene was because the betrayal of Sohrab would have set Amir's growth back a notch. In the novel, I hated Amir all over again for breaking his promise. Since the movie was on a time constraint, I believe the filmmakers decided that once the viewers liked Amir they should not have been prompted to again feel hatred for him.
As far as the actors go, I believe the only ones that were cast correctly were Baba, Sohrab, and Soraya. Firstly, I did not like the actor they chose to play Hassan. I always pictured him as strikingly beautiful and down to earth. The actor looked neither wise nor holy. Another big mistake was the casting of Assef. The actor who played him was quite scrawny and weak-looking. When he was threatening Hassan and Amir I did not feel intimidated at all.
The problem with Rahim was much of the same. He seemed to be a fragile old man; he was not the strong father figure Amir looked up to. I believe the casting of Amir as a child was also sub par; I neither disliked nor liked the actor.  Also, Amir as an adult was completely off, in my opinion. I thought he came off as slightly unintelligent.
On the bright side, I think the actor for Baba was a pretty good choice. He seemed strong and respectable. Sohrab was more like how I pictured Hassan as a child; I wonder why the filmmakers chose to make Sohrab and Hassan look so different. Perhaps it was an accident.
Soraya was well cast, too. She was similar to what I had imagined.
Overall I thought the style of the film was well developed. I particularly enjoyed the shots of the kites flying in the air; it seems to be CG, but it's still believable. Also, the depiction of Kabul before and after the invasion was striking, and the scenes of rape and stoning were difficult to watch but not scarring. As far as sending the message of the book, I think the movie was successful. It opened the eyes of the audience to the horrible events that took place in the Middle East at the time. It also conveyed the theme of friendship overcoming the prejudices of race.
I appreciated how the actors spoke in their native language. It made the experience more believable; I always get frustrated when actors in films set in a foreign country speak English.
On it's own, the film was quite good. When compared to the book, however, I do not think it quite captured the whole story.

Thoughts on movie

I'll start by saying that I thought the movie was a significant downgrade to the novel. I think the actors chosen were poor and the movie left out too many emotional and valuable parts of the book. I believe that the movie missed out on a lot of the emotional aspects that the book had provided to the reader. Most significantly, the scene where Sohrab cuts his wrists out of anger after being told that he'd have to go back to an orphanage was left out of the novel. This scene was key to solidifying the fact that Amir grew into a completely new person.

I absolutely hated how the movie started. I believe the fact that the movie started with Amir all grown up takes away from his growth from his mistakes as a child into a mentally at peace man. To me, the Kite Runner's main story was based around the growth of Amir, and they almost killed it by starting the movie with Amir as an adult.

I think the kid versions of Hassan and Amir were great and almost perfectly fit the characters I remember reading about in the book. I also think Rahim Khan was a great fit for his character. Baba, Amir as an adult, Soraya, and even the General just simply did not fit the characters I had envisioned when I read the book. Amir seems too relaxed about everything. Baba did not give off the same totalitarian-type attitude portrayed in the book. I thought Soraya would have been a bit more attractive, because in the book Amir describes her as if she's a super model. Oh, I forgot to mention Assef. My god what a terrible actor. I mean, seriously? Who the hell directed this movie? Are you dumb? Assef was literally white...no...almost clear colored and by the time he's the taliban official, he's black? Seriously?

I think that the movie was also very fast-paced, and that if I had not read the book, that I would not be able to piece together a lot of the things that went on in the plot. The movie also failed to create a lot of the strong relationships built up in the novel. Baba and Ali do not seem to hold more than a normal servant to boss relationship. Hassan and Amir as children also (to me) don't seem to have as strong of a relationship before Hassan gets raped like they do in the novel. In the novel, they are characterized as being literally inseparable before the raping. In the movie, the two seem to not have that strong of a relationship.

I do think the movie did some good things, though. I think the movie captured a lot of the hostility that Afghanistan gave off in the book in the second half of the book. I also think that the movie captured a lot of the nostalgia and regret that Amir expressed in the book on his travel/adventure back in Afghanistan.

movie and book relationship

Wendell Pfeffer

The Kite Runner comparison

            I was surprised that the movie turned out to be quite similar to the book. There are many things that were left out in the movie, but ultimately I think the book resembles the movie quite well. The biggest difference from the movie and the book is Hassan and Amir’s relationship. This is where I was quite disappointed because the movie did not resemble their emotions and attitudes towards one another quite well. The story in the book made Amir seem like a bad person and it demonstrated his feelings towards the situation he has to deal with as a child perfectly – his father. In the movie however, that was quite an issue. Also Amir did not seem like such a bad person for some reason in the movie, I felt as if there was a good and an appropriate reason he did what he did as a child to Hassan. Amirs character even differed in the book and the movie because there were times that Amir made himself look like a bad person, but in total I really did not have the same feeling of hatred towards him. The person that took on Hassans role in the movie played his character to a much bigger degree.  Hassan angered me when he was a child because why would he undermine himself to such an extent with Amir. He would give himself no credit what so ever to anything they did and he would act not like a friend towards Amir, but as a slave literally. One incident that clearly resembles this factor in the movie is when Amir says “Hassan if I told you to eat dirt would you eat it?” and Hassan says “yes I would, but you wouldn’t tell me to do something like that would you?” I mean seriously scenes like this really make me lose my sorrow for Hassan. Another thing I noticed In the movie was that their relationship actually seemed much better than in the book. They would hold hands and run across in the street together and look forward to what life brings them. The thing that most amazed me in the movie was the kite tournament in Kabul – that was by far the best scene because it gave you a first person view on the kits as they slashed each other down.

            The best character by far that was played well in the movie and the book was Assefs. His evilness was well played in the rape and when Amir encountered him later on in the movie. The movie like in the book represented his cruel character all throughout – he was a psychopath from child to adult. Babas character is also represented well all throughout the movie in relation with the book.  He is a man of dignity and courage and that is shown well in the movie especially in the beginning where he has complete control of his life and Amir’s in Kabul. Also the feeling of contempt Baba had towards Amir was demonstrated well and their relationship when they moved to the United States increased like in the book.

Movie to book Comparison

         Realistically speaking, the movie itself is not horrible. Having read the novel before hand, there is a sort of bias that accompanies you as you watch the movie. Hosseini is so careful to give his readers every single detail there is possible which in turns allows the reader to have this perfect image in their head of how the scenes would play out in “real life”.  Though these details are advantageous while you read the novel, they do take away from watching the movie because they make you upset when any sort of detail or account is left out, or so I feel.

            Already from the beginning there are minor discrepancies occurring between the film adaptation and the novel itself but none of them seem to truly affect the story line all too much. The film starts towards the middle part of the novel and then goes back to the beginning, but I did not find that to be much of a bother. What I did find very interesting of the film is that in all the scenes where Hassan and Amir are running, Hassan is always in the lead. Amir, though sometimes only by a few steps, is always behind him. I found there to be some meaning behind this. It is an unarguable fact that Hassan is “advanced” in many ways. He is past the “filter of distortion faze” even as a child, he is forgiving in all aspects, and kind to a point that it is sickening. Amir on the other hand is nowhere near passing his filter of distortion phase. I thought that the fact that he is literally behind Hassan when the boys are running around was symbolic of how he is also behind Hassan mentally.

            The rape scene was portrayed exactly how I had initially imagined it in my head.  I think a lot of credit should be given to the child actor that played Hassan. The only thing that seemed to be off from the film and the book was Assef’s age. By the description given in the novel, I had thought of Assef as being of the same age as Amir and Hassan. In the film he seemed to be about two to four years older than them. The fact that he was older in the film did make the rape a lot more scarring on the audience, because a boy of that age should have known better (as should have someone their age too).  I think a lot of credit should be given to the child actor that played the role of Hassan. The way he portrayed Hassan after the rape was done marvelously. He had this sullen look on his face but still some sort of pride when he gave Amir the kite. The way he reacted so subtly to Amir asking what had happened, even though they both knew what happened was also done well.

            Though I was pleased with the majority of the film because it corresponded well with what was going on in the novel, I was extremely upset with the ending. Without sounding grotesque, I was upset that Sohrab’s suicide attempt was completely disregarded. I think that the suicide attempt really magnifies the fear that Sohrab felt towards the orphanage and it also explains so much of his sorrow once he got to America. By leaving it out, the director excluded what I thought to be one of the most important scenes in the entire novel. 

-Talia Akerman

Book Vs Movie

From the beginning, I had a feeling that the movie was going to be different than the book. For example, the first scene of the entire movie is Amir deciding that he has to go back to Kabul in order to “be good again”. This scene gives the audience a sense of what is going to happen; from that scene anyone can decipher that Amir has to correct some sort of wrong he committed earlier in his life. When you read the book, all that happens is a surprise. I had no idea what was happening the entire time and that made the book more enjoyable.

Additionally, many important factors of the book were left out or changed in the movie. I do not really understand what the director’s motive was in changing Hassan’s birthday present. Why not show that Baba fixed Hassan’s lip and demonstrate to the viewer’s how much he loved him? I was bothered by the fact that the movie cut out Sohrab’s suicide attempt completely as well as the problems Amir faced in trying to adopt Sohrab. Knowing that Sohrab would have rather died than go back to an orphanage helps the reader realize how terrible his situation was and how horrendous Assef treated Sorhab. By avoiding the problems Amir faced in trying to adopt Sohrab, the movie made it seem like there was always going to be a happy ending. Although movies are stereotyped for having happy endings, the book gives readers a slight doubt. There is a possibility that Amir and Sohrab can live happily ever after in California, but there is also a chance that they might have to stay in Afghanistan and suffer. A large purpose of the book was to show how bad the situation was in Afghanistan and by taking these scenes out, the movie does not give their viewers the amount of knowledge and understanding the book gives its readers.

On another note, I think the characters in the movie were relatable to the ones in the book. Even though there were differences from the characters we created in our minds, to the ones shown on the screen, each character fit their role. The director missed small details however. Assef is blonde, but is portrayed as a brunette in the movie and Assef is the one that gave the speeches in the stadium. These small details do not make much of an overall difference, but since the movie is based off the book, I would have thought that the director would try to make it is a similar as possible; missing small details makes it seem like he was not paying much attention or that maybe he did not even read the book.

In essence, the movie made words come to life and therefore give viewers a visual representation which in return made the movie sad. Yet, I believe that if the movie added the details it was missing, it would become even more depressing, hence giving an actual illustration of how life in Afghanistan was.

Jose Novas 

THE POST OF POSTS

Although all main ideas and important events from the story were taken in account in the movie, there were some things that were not added. Some things that were left out were details such as Sohrab’s suicide attempt, Hassan’s gypsy mother, the lip surgery for Hassan, the problems at the Embassy, and Soraya’s grief due to Sohrab. These details didn’t affect the storyline too much, but if they were there they would have made the movie much more emotional. To go into more detail, Sohrab who is the son of Hassan hardly says a word after he is rescued because he is so physically and mentally scarred because of Assef, the bully who used Sohrab as a sex toy. In the book, Sohrab tried to committed suicide by cutting his wrists after Amir told him Sohrab that he would have to go back to an orphanage. However, in the movie the topic of taking Sohrab back to an orphanage or even the scene where Sohrab is found half-dead in the tub was not shown or even talked about. The movie continues though with Amir and Soraya who decide to adopt Sohrab, who is also Amir’s nephew. When they adopt in the book it is more realistic because they have some problems with the Embassy and adoption papers. In the movie, it really skips the problems that Amir would face trying to bring a foreign boy into the US.  However, in the movie they just put Sohrab on a plane with Amir to head back from Afghanistan to America, with no issues. The filmmakers expect the audience to fill in the blank spots of the movie. Also the movie does not talk anything about Hassan’s mother. If someone in the audience had not read the book before watching the movie, that one scene in the movie would have been very confusing because no word is spoken about Hassan’s mother. In the book Hosseini tells the reader that Hassan’s mother was a gypsy and ran away after giving birth to Hassan, leaving Hassan’s father to raise him. This leads me to another omitted scene: in the book Hassan is hair-lipped and on his 12th birthday, Amir’s dad pays for Hassan to have surgery to get rid of the hair-lip. In the movie this is not mentioned or shown. However, even though some of these details were missed in the movie, it was still amazing and captured some of the emotional tragic that was present in the book. In conclusion, “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hoissein and the movie produced by Marc Forester are both amazing. While the book had more detail and description, the movie brought the images alive and made it hard to accept the story, because it was so sad. All in all, the filmmakers were somewhat true to the book. 

Comparison of movie to the book

As in most cases, the book well exceeded the movie. It's difficult for a movie to capture the same emotions and feelings that a book can because a book allows one to see into the mind of the narrator. A book also allows for the imagination to paint a picture. The way I saw the characters from the book were nothing like the characters casted for the movie, except for Baba. The actor who played Baba looked like a strong and elegant individual but also had a bit of the "bear" quality which Amir expressed constantly in the book. I thought that that fear that Amir had towards his father was important to the story and not having included that in the movie did some damage on reflecting the relationship between Amir and his Baba. 

Assef was another character in the movie that looked NOTHING like I imagined. As a kid, I depicted him as a really tall and big dark skinned bully who towered over everyone else, but in the movie he was a scrawny white boy who didn't look very threatening at all. The movie didn't even include Assef using his brass knuckles which was a symbolic threat towards Amir and Hassan. The scene at Amir's birthday did not at all touch on the fear that Assef inflicted on others. In the book, Assef was so cruel that even his parents had a bit of fear towards him which let the readers know that this was a pure evil boy; the movie didn't even include Assef giving the book on Hitler to Amir! There was no way the movie made the viewer hate Assef as much the book did so Assef's inhumanity wasn't clearly shown. The resemblance of the young Assef to the older Assef in the Taliban wasn't clear either and honestly, the old Assef looked nothing like the younger one. The younger Assef was white skinned with black hair and the older Assef was much darker skinned with brown hair. In the book, Assef had blue eyes and blond hair which I believe was an important element because it showed how different he was and how alike he was to the Aryan race that Hitler wanted to create and Assef is basically viewed as the reincarnation of Hitler. 

What wasn't included in the movie that truly damaged the story was the exclusion of Baba buying surgery for Hassan. This was the factor in the story that showed how jealous Amir was of Hassan and how Baba seemed to have more loving care towards Hassan than anyone else. Instead, the movie had Baba buy Hassan a kite which wasn't as personal as the surgery. Based on the movie, one could tell that Amir had a bit of anger towards Hassan because he got all of Babas attention, but the book revealed the core of his hatred. 

I'm happy that I had never seen the movie before I read the book because I'm sure that the movie would have ruined the story for me. The book was overall so much more emotional and really grabbed me by the throat and made me feel everything the characters felt, whereas the movie was just a way to pass the time. 

The Book vs The Movie

      Watching the movie, The Kite Runner, after reading the book helped me visualize what the actual story might have looked like in real life. Even though I did not picture the characters or settings how they were portrayed in the movie, I think that the movie gave me a more realistic point of view. Seeing how terrible the political conditions were in the movie during the scenes where Amir returns to Afghanistan helped me understand how serious and dangerous the Taliban really are.
      The movie gave me a better understanding of the dangers of the Taliban and what the living conditions in Afghanistan were like rather than the characters true feelings and their emotions. While reading the book, Hosseini did a great job portraying Amirs emotions and how he felt as a child growing up striving to obtain his fathers attention, to later on to facing his fears in order to save Hassans son. I felt angry when Amir began to mistreat Hassan and actually felt sad when Amir lost his father and was close to losing Sohrab after his suicide attempt. While watching the movie, I could not relate to Amirs feelings. Without Amirs true feelings being told, I felt a lack of connection and was unable to relate to the depth of the story.
       Towards the end of the movie, Amir was able to bring back Sohrab to his home without a single problem. By skipping Sohrabs suicide attempt, I felt that a lot was left untold about Sohrabs past. After losing his parents and becoming a personal slave for the Taliban, you can not expect a little boy to just accept the fact that he was moving to a different country and place his trust in a new family. Sohrab went through a lot for a child his age, let alone for anyone at any age, so I believe that his suicidal act was very realistic. It is normal for him to be afraid of trusting someone new and staring a new life, especially when he missed his old one so badly. Because Sohrab was so afraid and barely speaking, I thought this scene told you a lot about his personality, and leaving it out of the movie left a lot of his feelings untold.
       The book obviously has a lot more detail than the movie. I think that the makers of the movie expect people to have read the book before watching the movie so they have an understanding of what is really going on. I enjoyed reading the book more than watching the movie. It really does amaze me how the author could create a bond between the reader and the character, and I was disappointed when I did not experience that bond while watching the movie. I still thought it was a great movie, but nothing compared to the book itself. If I had not read the book prior to watching the movie, I believe I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more than I did.

Kite Runner Movie vs Book

Personally, I almost always rather the movies from the books. This was actually a rare case and I was more content with the book than the movie. The movie missed a lot of scenes that were vital in my opinion and that was what made me lean more towards the book. I understand that some scenes have to be cut in order to make the movie within a reasonable amount of time for people to sit down and watch it, but the director made some mistakes in which scenes to leave ad which to take out and also made some same scenes with different details that gave me a different feel from the book. The movie was almost identical from the book except for the first scene up to where Rahim Khan’s “there is a way to be good again” comes into play and Amir gets on a flight to Pakistan. In the movie, Rahim does not tell Amir exactly what he wants him to do with Sohrab about bringing him to the orphanage with the made up Americans in Pakistan, it is just sort of implied that Amir must rescue him and adopt him. This is important because it is supposed to show how Amir is dubious about going to rescue the boy and how he does not even want to parent his nephew in the beginning. The movie also did not depict Farid accurately. The movie did not show how hostile Farid was towards Amir until he learned of his intentions, and the movie also did not show Amir and Farid staying at Farid’s brother’s house. That scence was important because it showed how much importance was placed on honor, as the father rather feed his guests than his children, and is also showed the children’s lack of care for technology, but gratefulness for gifts. The orphanage scene was a big part of the book and the fact that no one attacked the director made it seem like they did not care too much that children were getting sold to Assef, I believe that to be a mistake from the director. Once the “man with the sunglasses” enters the story, I also saw that the movie missed some important details that demonstrated the Taliban’s ridiculous rule such as the player not wearing shorts or how you weren’t allowed to cheer for the game, only for the Taliban. I also noticed later in the movie that Assef’s famous brass knuckles were never introduced. This doesn’t make that big of a difference but it gave Assef more of an intense fear. In the scence with Assef, the director changes that he doesn’t say “hows the old Babalu” but rather talks about Baba, and Assef did not tell the guards to let them go if he walked out of there alive in the movie. They also did not show Amir laughing while getting his beating, which was needed to correlate the meaning to Assef’s story of the kidney stones. The movie did not show Amir in the hospital or how Sohrab felt like a huge sinner, being the reason he ran away to the mosque. It was not a bad movie at all and I enjoyed watching it, but when it comes to detailed imagery and important factors that make those small differences, the book did a much better job.

Book v. Movie

In most situations, I enjoy the book more then I ever enjoy the movie adaption of a novel. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and unfortunately The Kite Runner is not one of them. The first incongruence I noticed was with the casting of the movie. I do not know exactly what I was expecting for Rahim and Baba, but it definitely took me off guard when the movie presented its character interpretation. Rahim looked a tab bit sinister and Baba look weaker than I expected. I thought that he would look more like a force of nature.  For Hassan, the character was much too similar to Amir’s character. I think the reason people are so harsh towards the Hazara people is because they look different.  Hassan is described as having a flat nose and more narrow eyes. On the third page of the novel it actually says that “his almost perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood.” This description suggests that Hassan looks more Asian then Afghani.  Also, and perhaps the most important flaw in Hassan’s character in the movie, is that he is without a cleft lip which completely throws off an entire section of the book. It reduces the suggestion of the importance of Hassan to Baba, because he is unable to give him the gift of the surgery. Also it takes away the symbolism at the end of book, where Hassan and Amir both have the scars in the same place on their upper lip.  The final character casting that I found to be completely dissimilar to the book was Assef. Assef is clearly described to have German descendants. He has blond hair and blue eyes, and he a bigger boy but the same age as Hassan because he mentions that they are in class together. Instead he is casted as a large, evil looking Afghani boy, clearly four or five years older than both Amir and Hassan. Which I suppose makes the character less appealing, but in terms of accuracy it is completely wrong.

My favorite parts of the novel are the small stories that detail the relationship between Hassan and Amir, Amir and Baba, Amir and Rahim, Amir and Soraya and Amir and Sorhob. Movies have limited time to relate the overall plot line of the story, and sometimes because of constraints in time and budget, things are cut from the novel. A lot of these small stories were cut from the movie, which I think weakens the audience’s understanding of the relationship between Amir and the people around him. Also because you are unable to hear the inner thoughts of Amir he looked a lot more redeemable in the movie than in the book. So, this made his quest to save Hassan’s son a little less surprising and out of character. Also there is less emphasis on Amir’s guilt and thus his “change” or character arc in the movie was less drastic. The movie skipped a whole 50 to 60 pages at the end of the book that I thought were significant. They skipped events like Sorhob’s attempted sucide and Amir and Sorhob’s trip to the hospital. They skipped the whole reason why Sohrob does not speak to Amir for an entire year. One positive thing about the movie was without being too graphic, the rape scene was just as horrid and hard to watch as it was to read in the novel.  

Comparison of Novel & Movie

After reading the novel and watching the film, it has become clear that several discrepancies appear in comparing “The Kite Runner” in literature to it’s cinematographic counterpart. Although several petty differences appear, like Hassan having a hair lip and Ali having a crippled leg, there are some more serious aspects included in the original novel that are left out in the film. 

The rape of Hassan is an integral part of the book. One could even consider it a climax of sorts, in that everything after this point changes. The rape in the book is vividly described making in one of the most emotional parts of the piece. Feelings for Amir, good or bad, seem to have been finalized for most readers here. All of these reasons make it so strange that the directors chose not to include the rape scene. For obvious reasons, a graphic rape scene would have been inappropriate, however, this crucial part of the story deserves more than just the implication. 

A large portion of the novel is centered around life after Afghanistan. Baba and Amir move to American and experience several problems along with Baba’s apparent depression having left his homeland. This part is less than accurately portrayed in the movie. Although around one hundred pages of the novel is dedicated to Amir and Hassan adapting to life in the United States, it seems as though only a few minutes are dedicated to this in the movie. In the book, Baba is made to seem virtually depressed throughout his entire time in the United States. In fact, the only mention of him smiling is when Amir is getting married. In the film, the aging Baba is portrayed as much happier than one would have imagined having read the book. I suppose that this aspect may have been changed in order to end Baba’s life on a happier note than what is displayed in the novel. In some way, I can see that they did this to make viewers feel as though Baba’s life has come full circle, and that he is as strong as he was in Afghanistan, but in reality, it does not seem to portray the drastic change that Baba endures will in the United States. 

The entire portion of the film where Amir goes to Afghanistan is largely different than what is described in the book. Amir goes to collect Sohrab from Assef, who is described as tall and blond in the book with apparent German heritage but is entirely different in the story, and fights him for him then escapes, much different than what is told in the movie. Amir, in the novel, has to stay at the hospital for several weeks, but is fine in the movie. An enormous difference in the movie is when Sohrab does not attempt suicide like he does in the movie. I imagine that they included this for the sake of not including another plot twist throughout the movie, but doing this does not show Sohrab’s guilt. Lastly, getting Sohrab is incredibly difficult for Amir and Soraya. They have to wait for a long while after failed attempts at adopting him. In no place in the movie is this included, they merely get on the plane and arrive in the United States. 

Overall, the gist of the plot collected from “The Kite Runner” novel was undoubtedly included in the movie, but there were several details, some petty and some quite important, that were left out of the movie. Overall, the movie did do a fair job in portraying the atrocities that took place in Afghanistan as well as those in this particular story. 

Kite Runner: Book versus Movie

Camille Kelleher 

            A lot of times, novels that are adapted into movies never meet the reader’s expectations. Fortunately, I think that Marc Foster, the director, and David Benioff, the screenplay writer, were able to do justice to the book.

The movie never butchered the novel and stayed primarily true to the storyline. In the movie, a few scenes were cut, shortened, or altered most likely to save time including Soraya’s infertility, the road trip from Kabul to Pakistan, and the fight between Amir and Assef. There are several additions to the movie that developed the overall impression including the decision to have the dialogue in Dari with English subtitles and the background noise that reflects previous memories. When adult Amir returns to Kabul, for example, the background noise of people shouting and congratulating Amir and Hassan reflects the kite running competition and is added to the scene with adult Amir. I love the director’s choice to add the framed blue kite behind Baba when he tells Amir that he brings him shame. It creates more irony and tension in Baba and Amir’s relationship and implies Baba as impulsive and uncaring. These screenplay choices develop the emotion elicited in the book. 

            Also, the director added several humorous and light-hearted aspects to the movie that show a lot about tradition. It’s interesting that the director decided to add the fact that Soraya’s mother had to chaperone her walk with Amir and the wedding scene. Both of these changes weren’t necessarily needed but it builds the themes of family and culture found in the book and makes the movie more relatable.

            I only understand and acknowledge Khaled Hosseini’s thesis in the movie since I previously read the book. The movie depends a lot on the book, and partially understates some very important themes, like friendship, redemption, and guilt. In the book, I received the impression that Amir is a very sensitive man who internalizes every moment of his life. The emphasis on the guilt he feels after not stopping Assef from raping Hassan and pushing Ali and Hassan to leave Baba had very little presence in the movie. This is the major deviation from the book to the movie and diminishes the movie’s success. Also, I did not like the director’s choice of actors. I imagined Baba as a much larger man because there is elaborate description of his authority in his community and his pride he carries everywhere.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie because I had read the book right before watching it. If I hadn’t read the book, then I would have left more unimpressed with the Hosseini’s emphasis on guilt, redemption, and coming of age. For both the movie and the book, I wish that Hosseini spent more time contrasting Allah’s will and American optimism. There is definitely a presence of it in both mediums and I think it’s a really interesting juxtaposition. Both are two different fates to believe in, one is an omnipotent force while the other is a perspective on life and future outcomes. It would have been great to see this contrast elaborated between Amir and Assef when they are adults.