For You 1000 Times Over

Kelly (my book-club buddy) and I were discussing books a few weeks ago and she mentioned that Persepolis, one of our favorite graphic novels was recently made into a film. The link to the movie, that opened Christmas Day is below.

http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/persepolis/

I also heard the Twilight vampire series by Stephanie Meyer has been purchased by Summit Entertainment and is in pre-production. I'm currently reading New Moon, and unfortunately it's nowhere near as good as Twilight. Granted, I was reading Twilight in sunny Puerto Rico while sipping a strawberry daiquiri. I suppose reading the dictionary would be riveting in those circumstances.

Nonetheless, there is always a risk when you go to see the movie version of a book you love. I saw the film version of The Kite Runner this afternoon and I'm glad that I did. Of course I complained about the parts they left out; the characters left undeveloped (mostly Baba and Ali in my opinion) and the important inner dialogue that inevitably is missed whenever you translate a novel into a screenplay.

What bothered me most was that Afghanistan itself didn't come to the forefront of the film until the end. Throughout the entire novel the country played a huge supporting role; it helped the reader understand the characters, their motivations, their way of life and traditions. I don't think that was fully translated into the film. While reading this book I was fortunate to learn a small bit about a distant land and two families that lived there, mainly Amir and Hassan, "Sultans of Kabul". I wish more of that land was described, filmed, and explored in the movie. On second thought, I like the way it looks in my mind even better. 

Overall I give the film a B+.

Andy did not read the book and he said it was one of the best films he had seen all year. I agree. If you liked The Kite Runner, you may also enjoy The House of Sand and Fog with Ben Kingsley. 

I also recommend the film Osama. It was released in 2004 and was the first movie made in Afghanistan after the Taliban era.

http://www.osamamovie.com/