“The Kite Flyer” is an epic film about boyhood, friendship and the horrors of war.

It opens almost like “Cinema Paradiso,” with a telephone call from someone in the past, a need to return home after many years and a long flashback to boyhood days.

Khalid Abdalla plays well-to-do Amir as a man, with Zekena Ebrahimi playing him as a boy.

His devoted buddy, Hassan, is played by Ahmad Khan Mahmoodza.

At 128 minutes, the film takes in a lot of material. A big section sets the pace, showing us the two boys growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan, circa 1981.

They participate in the annual kite-flying contest and win. The cinematography is amazing. How do they get those shots of kites flying high over the city.

How do they get those kites to fly that high without having to run and run to get the things aloft?

Amir lives with his father, father’s servant and the servant’s son, who happens to be Hassan. Amir’s mother died in childbirth.

Even as boys, running about the city, they learn about the different ethnic groups and young Hassan is brutally assaulted.

When the Russians take over the city, Amir’s father knows they must flee because he had openly criticized Russians. So they must sneak into Pakistan, leaving behind servant and Hassan.

Another flashback shows the grown Amir living with his formerly wealthy father, Baba (Homayoun Ershadi), in Fremont, Calif. They run a seedy service station and convenience store and sell items at a flea market. It is there he meets his future wife, Soraya Theri (Atossa Leoni.)

Years later, Amir gets a call from the former servant, played by Shaun Toub. Amir must return to troubled Afghanistan, now in the grips of the dreaded Taliban.

Hassan and his wife have been murdered by the Taliban and Amir must return and rescue the couple’s son. The reasons become evident in the film.

Modern Afghanistan is sad and shabby and a true horror. Amir must wear a false beard, as beards are required by the rulers.

A particularly disturbing scene is at a soccer game, where halftime activities include the stoning death of a woman who reportedly wasn’t faithful to her husband.