Movie Reflection

It has been a long time since I've read a book with a movie adaptation of it. When I was little, I read books like Charlotte's Web and Harry Potter, which have a movie adaptation. I guess this time it just wasn't the same as when I was little. Reading The Kite Runner, there was so much emotion, suffering and the detail within the book and it was incredible. I cried a number of times reading the novel, because each character's emotions feel so real. Watching the movie, I had a different experience. I found myself criticizing each part saying, "Hey, they skipped a scene," or "That part was so much better in text." I never thought I would ever say this, but the book really is one hundred times better than the movie.

In the movie, I loved the character of Hassan, just like I loved him in the novel. They picked a cute, little boy to play him, and he was great. Although, in the movie, they left out the fact that Hassan had a cleft lip. And instead of Baba taking Hassan to get surgery for his birthday, Baba bought him a kite. I think that took away some of the significance of Baba being Hassan's father, and all the sentimental things he did for him. I thought that was a large part of their father-son relationship in the novel.

Once Amir rescues Sohrab, they have difficulty getting him out of the country without a visa in the novel, but in the movie, it was never addressed and Amir brings him home with no difficulty. I guess that's the "Hollywood" way of doing things, sometimes they leave out some of the reality. Would Sohrab have a visa? Probably not, which makes the novel so much more detailed, realistic and believable.

In the movie, I don't think Soraya was portrayed the same way. In the novel, Soraya helps Baba much more than it was shown in the movie. She takes care of him completely and does everything for him.

"Soraya dedicated herself to taking care of my father. She made his toast and tea in the morning, and helped him in and out of bed. She gave him his pain pills, washed his clothes, read him the international section of the newspaper every afternoon. She cooked his favourite dish...and took him out every day for a brief walk around the block." (181)

This makes Soraya seem more appealing to the reader, because she is such a good wife, and we love her for taking care of Baba. There is also another difference with Soraya. In the novel, Amir got on the phone with Soraya and told her everything about Hassan, even when they were kids. However, in the movie, it was never mentioned what exactly he told her on the phone, so we don't know what was said. Because she knows everything Amir did in the novel, and doesn't judge him, or even ask any questions, we love her even more for it.

The movie was not in English the entire time, in fact most of it was in subtitles because they were speaking Farsi. This did not bother me, because it makes the movie more realistic, like the novel. Most children, or even people, in Afghanistan probably don't know how to speak English.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. The scenery was amazing, and the music was very fun and interesting to listen to. I liked that it was a complete Afghani cast, and no one was American or Canadian. I liked that we got to watch the movie as a part of our project, but I think the movie was ruined after I read the book. I should have read them in the other order, because I would have thought the movie was great if I didn't know so much about the novel.