Marc Forster’s magnificent film The Kite Runner hinges on a secret that has haunted the hero since his childhood in Afghanistan. Amir is a successful young novelist living in San Francisco. A phone call from a dying man rips us back to the dusty streets of Kabul in 1978. Two young boys are winning a kite-fighting contest that involves slicing through the opponent’s string. The losing kite is then claimed by the first child to chase it down. Amir’s best friend Hassan has an uncanny knack of knowing exactly where the kite will fall.

But an act of unspeakable brutality inflicted on Hassan down an empty side-street poisons the profound bond between the two boys. Amir witnesses Hassan being raped by the local bully but is too cowardly to help. He shamefully pretends he saw nothing. Hassan is too fond of Amir to question his word. How easily and insidiously guilt turns to hate.

Forster’s film is a rare canvas among Hollywood studio productions. It is an exemplary piece of storytelling ripped quite beautifully from Khaled Hosseini’s famous book. But what distinguishes the film is a backdrop of raw and ruinous cultural events. Amir’s falling-out with Hassan is silhouetted against Afghanistan’s shocking slide into chaos. Kabul in 1978 is a thriving metropolis where privileged and upstanding men of honour such as Amir’s father, Baba (a command performance by Homayoun Ershadi), can drink whisky and talk freely.

When the grown-up Amir (Khalid Abdalla) returns to the capital in 2000 to atone for his past, the country is a splintered mess: sacked by the Soviets and driven into the dirt by the Taleban. The last harrowing half of the film is a grim and hair-raising thriller with public stonings, amputees who sell their crutches for scraps, and ghastly orphanages routinely sourced for sex by the Taleban.

The film’s only weakness is that the twists and improbable coincidences are almost too melodramatic for their own good. But this is quibbling. The Kite Runner is an enthralling piece of cinema. The performances are note perfect; in some cases sublime. Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, who plays the young Hassan – the most sinned-against character in the film – is an extraordinary find. He can’t be much older than 12, yet his crumpled, sombre face has a wisdom that belies his years.

15, 128mins

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