What are key differences between the film and book versions of The Kite Runner?

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It is always difficult to adapt a fairly lengthy novel such as The Kite Runner to just two hours on the wide screen. Such is the case with The Kite Runner, which is, nevertheless, an outstanding film and generally faithful to the novel. There are many scenes from the book that are left out of the movie, which is normal for most screen adaptations. There are actually very few changes from the text, however. A few of them are:

• Baba is said to have been a prior winner of the kite-flying tournament. Although he once told Amir that he had cut 14 kites in one day, I don't believe it was said that Baba won the tournament in the novel.
• The van Baba drives in California is an American model, not a Volkswagen as in the novel.
• In the scene with Assef the Taliban, Assef uses no brass knuckles, and the injuries Amir receives are far less serious than in the novel.
• Hassan has no hairlip in the movie.
• Ali does not have a discernible limp.
• The actor who plays Baba (who is otherwise excellent) appears to be far shorter than the gigantic Baba, who was 6'5 in the novel. General Taheri is much taller than Baba in the film.

What are major similarities and differences between the book and movie versions of The Kite Runner?

The movie leaves out a lot of detail, in an attempt to "soften" the story and make it more suitable for kids. Even though the novel is about kids, it is not really a kids' book, whereas the movie is aimed at a younger audience.

One of the important motifs from the book that is left out of the movie is Hassan's cleft palette. In the book, Hassan's deformity has powerful symbolic meaning. It emphasizes his subaltern, or "damaged," position, but it also reflects on Baba's own compromised morality as Hassan's father. In a way, Baba's determination to "fix" Hassan can be read as a way of "fixing" himself, as if by providing Hassan with an operation he is compensating for not being able to publicly acknowledge his paternity. At the same time, by focusing on Hassan's appearance, the book emphasizes the racist underpinnings of Pashtun attitudes toward Hazara.

By leaving out Hassan's deformity, the movie glosses over these complicated relationships and makes Baba a weaker figure. This can also be seen in the movie's treatment of Baba's life in America, another place where the film script greatly simplifies what is in the novel. Much of the emotional impact of Baba's death in the book comes from these details, which show how much Baba has sacrificed. In the film, these complexities are reduced to very sad music during Baba's death scene.