When things go awry on set for the likes of Nicole Kidman or Tom Cruise it normally means they've broken something like a nail or scuffed a shoe.

Young Afghan actors Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada found life a bit tougher - they had to be smuggled out of the country after filming Marc Forster's adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's award-winning novel.

It was feared that Taliban-influenced militants would target the youngsters, particularly because of a male rape scene.

The Taliban's vile regime of macho intimidation cloaked by religious belief also forms the backdrop to this affecting tale of youthful betrayal atoned by adult redemption.

The story begins in the 1970s in Kabul. Amir (Ebrahimi) is the pampered son of Baba (Homayoun Ershadi), a cultured businessman with a rigid moral code.

Sharing their luxury compound is dutiful housekeeper Ali and his son Hassan (Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada).

Despite their tribal differences (Amir is Pashtun while Hassan is Hazara) and their social standing, the boys are best friends and share a love of kite flying and The Magnificent Seven.

However, when the unquestioningly loyal Hassan is assaulted by a local bully, Amir's guilt at not helping his friend crystallises into resentment and he deceiptfully engineers Hassan's dismissal from the household.

Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Amir flees with his father to America...but his guilt remains until - out of the blue - he gets a chance to make amends.

Forster takes few liberties with Hosseini's novel: it's a straightforward, anadorned adaptation with the much of the dialogue in Persian and a capable non-starry cast.

While focusing on the intimate saga of the two boys, the film certainly doesn't pull its punches regarding life under the Taliban - one scene showing the stoning to death of an adulterous couple is practically unwatachable.

Visually, there are some stunning moments, particularly the aerial shots of kites swooping over the snow-dusted roofs of Kabul (actually Kashgar in China because of the risk of filming in Afghanistan).

Far from portraying all Afghans in an unflattering light, many are shown to be decent and humane with the finger of blame pointing unwaveringly at religious intolerance as the reason for the country's undoing.

It's a solid, no-nonsense piece of film-making which should find favour with the novel's legion of fans.

Tim Evans