Whatever you think of the recent directorial efforts of Mel Gibson, we can all hopefully agree on one thing: he is demonstrating that foreign languages and subtitles are no bar to mass cinema audiences. Admittedly with The Passion Of The Christ and Apocalypto he has proved this to be the case just in the arenas of Biblical drama and historical action, but it’s a start. And the success of those films may have encouraged the financiers investing in the current crop of American films using foreign languages: the Universal/Focus-backed Lust Caution by Ang Lee; The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, filmed in French by Julian Schnabel; and The Kite Runner, directed by German-born, US-resident Marc Forster.
Developed by Sam Mendes’ London-based Neal Street production company and financed by Paramount/DreamWorks, The Kite Runner’s backers enjoyed the comfort zone of the popularity of Khaled Hosseini’s bestseller of the same name. The use of Afghan languages is certainly the right creative choice.










