The Kite Runner (film)

The Kite Runner (film)
The Kite Runner is a 2007 American drama film directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by David Benioff and based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet military intervention, the mass exodus of Afghan refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the Taliban regime.
Though most of the film is set in Afghanistan, these parts were mostly shot in Kashgar in Xinjiang, China, due to the dangers of filming in Afghanistan at the time. The majority of the film's dialogue is in Dari Persian, with the remainder spoken in English and a few short scenes in Pashto and Urdu. The child actors are native speakers, but several adult actors had to learn Dari. Filming wrapped up on December 21, 2006, and the film was expected to be released on November 2, 2007. However, after concern for the safety of the young actors in the film due to fears of violent reprisals to the sexual nature of some scenes in which they appear, its release date was pushed back six weeks to December 14, 2007. The controversial scenes also resulted in the film being banned from cinemas and distribution in Afghanistan itself.
Made on a budget of $20 million, the film earned $73.2 million worldwide. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. The film's score by Alberto Iglesias was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.
Plot
In 2000 San Francisco, Afghan-American writer Amir Qadiri and his wife Soraya watch children flying kites. Arriving home, Amir receives a call from his father's old friend and business associate Rahim Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan.
In 1978 Kabul, 10-year-old Amir is the son of a wealthy Pashtun philanthropist and iconoclast, known locally as Agha Sahib, whom Amir calls "Baba". His best friend Hassan is his longtime servant Ali's son, a Hazara. Amir does kite fighting, and Hassan is his spool-holder and "kite runner". He accurately predicts where loose kites will land and has deadly aim with his slingshot. On Hassan's birthday, Amir gifts Hassan a US made one.
Entering the citywide kite-fighting contest, Amir breaks his father's record of 14 "kills", and Hassan runs after the last defeated kite. Amir searches for him, finding him trapped in a dead end by Assef and his gang. Assef demands Amir's kite to release him but he refuses, so they beat and rape Hassan in retaliation.
Amir watches unseen, too afraid to intervene. Wracked with guilt over the next few weeks he avoids Hassan. Ali and Baba question Amir on Hassan's strange behavior, but he feigns ignorance. Amir asks Baba if he would ever replace Ali and Hassan and is angrily rebuked.
Amir can't enjoy his 11th birthday party, still upset by the incident. The next day, Amir makes it look like Hassan stole his birthday wristwatch. Baba confronts him, and he takes the blame. Although he quickly forgives him, Ali feels dishonored, and immediately quits, much to Baba's distress.
In June 1979, as the Soviet Union militarily intervenes, Baba and Amir flee to Pakistan inside an oil truck. Frightened, Baba gets Amir to recite poems. Rahim is left the house's care.
In 1988, Baba runs a service station and operates a stall at a weekly flea market in Fremont, California. After earning a degree at the local community college, Baba has Amir work with him. One day, at the flea market, Baba introduces him to General Taheri, a Pashtun and former Afgan army officer. When Amir meets Taheri's daughter Soraya, he's interested. He gives her his story, but the General confiscates it.
Soon after Baba is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Amir requests he ask General Taheri’s for Soraya's hand in marriage, which he does. On a chaperoned stroll, Soraya reveals the Taheris had to move from Virginia, due to the gossip after she had run off to live with a Pashtun man. Her father retrieved her, and soon after they moved to California. Amir is shocked, but still pledges his love, and they marry. Baba dies soon afterward.
Back in 2000: Rahim convinces Amir to visit him in Pakistan to make amends. In Peshawar, a dyng Rahim tells Amir that he had asked Hassan to return, which he did-with his wife and his son Sohrab. Later, Rahim had fled to Pakistan leaving the home to Hassan and his family. Meanwhile, after the civil war, the Taliban had taken power. When they demanded Hassan vacate the home he refused, so they executed him and his wife and Sohrab was taken to an orphanage.
Rahim then urges Amir to return to Kabul to find Sohrab and give him a letter written by Hassan, who had taught himself to read and write. Amir declines until Rahim reveals that Amir and Hassan are half-brothers: Hassan was the result of the affair between Amir's father and Ali's wife.
Amir seeks Sohrab in a Kabul orphanage, but learns he had been purchased by a Taliban official. Arranging an appointment at the official's house, he is surprised to see the his assistant is actually Assef. He recognizes Amir immediately, introduces Sohrab as his dance boy and begins to beat Amir for taking him. In the confusion, Sohrab pulls out Hassan's slingshot and shoots Assef in the eye. Sohrab and an injured Amir then flee to Peshawar, where they discover Rahim has died, leaving behind a letter for Amir.
In San Francisco, Amir introduces Sohrab to Soraya, and the couple welcomes him into their home. He teaches him how to fly kites and volunteers to be Sohrab's "runner". As Amir runs off to fetch a defeated kite, he repeats to Sohrab what Hassan had said to him when they were boys: "For you, a thousand times over."
Cast
Khalid Abdalla as Amir Qadiri, a young novelist who fled to the U.S. as a boy during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Zekeria Ebrahimi as Young Amir
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada as Hassan, Amir's childhood friend who was the victim of brutal torment. It's later revealed Hassan was Amir's brother
Homayoun Ershadi as the Agha Sahib (Baba)
Atossa Leoni as Soraya, the daughter of General Taheri and Amir's spouse
Shaun Toub as Rahim Khan
Saïd Taghmaoui as Farid
Abdul Salaam Yusoufzai as Assef, Amir and Hassan's childhood tormenter who became a Taliban official as an adult
Elham Ehsas as Young Assef
Ali Danish Bakhtyari as Sohrab
Maimoona Ghezal as Jamila Taheri
Abdul Qadir Farookh as General Taheri
Khaled Hosseini (cameo) as Doctor in the park
Camilo Cuervo as a Taliban Soldier
Nasser Memarzia as Zaman, an orphanage director
Mohamad Amin Rahimi as a Taliban official who made speeches in Ghazi Stadium
Chris Verrill as Dr. Starobin, a Russian-American doctor
Amar Kureishi as Dr. Amani, an Iranian doctor
Nabi Tanha as Ali, Agha Sahib's house servant
Ehsan Aman (cameo) as a singer at Amir's and Soraya's wedding
Mehboob Ali as Amir's taxi driver in Pakistan
The two child actors were aged 11 and 12 at the time of the filming.
Production
Due to dangers of filming in Afghanistan, much of the film was recorded instead in the western Chinese city of Kashgar, which is located about 500 miles from Kabul and shares many visual similarities.
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews. , the film holds a 65% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 178 reviews, with an average rating of 6.40/10. The site's critics' consensus states: "Despite some fine performances, The Kite Runner is just shy of rendering the magic of the novel on to the big screen." On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times named it the 5th best film of 2007.
Controversy
Though the child actors enjoyed making the film, they and their families expressed worries about their situation after the film's release. Regarding one scene, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada (young Hassan) said, "I want to continue making films and be an actor but the rape scene upset me because my friends will watch it and I won't be able to go outside any more. They will think I was raped." The scene was depicted in a less harrowing manner than originally planned; it contained no nudity, and the sexual aspect of the attack was suggested only very briefly at the end of the scene (also, a body double was used). There were also fears of intertribal reprisals, as the character Hassan was a Hazara and the boys who bullied and raped him were Pashtun.
The government of Afghanistan at the time, led by President Hamid Karzai, decided to ban the film from theaters and DVD shops, both because of the rape scene and the ethnic tensions. The deputy Information and Culture minister said: "It showed the ethnic groups of Afghanistan in a bad light. We respect freedom of speech, we support freedom of speech, but unfortunately we have difficulties in Afghan society, and if this film is shown in the cinemas, it is humiliating for one of our ethnic groups."
For their work on the movie, Zekeria Ebrahimi (young Amir) and Mahmoodzada were initially paid $17,500 (£9,000) each, and Ali Danish $13,700 (£7,000). Arguments were later made that the boys were underpaid. Additionally, Ebrahimi has said, "We want to study in the United States. It's a modern country and more safe than here in Kabul. If I became rich here I would be worried about security. It's dangerous to have money because of the kidnapping." Paramount relocated the two child actors, as well M. Ali Danish Bakhtyari (Sohrab) and another child actor with a minor role as Omar, to the United Arab Emirates. The studio reportedly accepted responsibility for the boys' living expenses until they reached adulthood, a cost some estimated at up to $500,000.
After four months in Dubai, Ebrahimi and his aunt returned to Kabul in March 2008. After receiving threats on his life, Ebrahimi was forced to remain indoors and be home-schooled by an uncle. He has since claimed that he wishes he had never appeared in the movie. Mahmoodzada stayed in Dubai for two years but returned to Kabul because his other family members could not get a visa to join him. Back home, he was continuously targeted by both the Hazara Shia's (for portraying them as a weak community) and by Pashtun Sunni (for portraying them as bad and cruel). The repeated humiliation resulted in Mahmoodzada—with the help of human smugglers—moving to Sweden; as of 2017, he was living in Borlänge.
Awards and nominations
References
External links
"A North Hollywood kite fighter's lofty dream", story of the film's kite master (Los Angeles Times)
Kite Runner flies into controversy
16 Days in Afghanistan listed as a reference film in Kite Runner's Study guide
2007 drama films
2007 films
American drama films
DreamWorks Pictures films
Films about atonement
Paramount Pictures films
Films set in Afghanistan
Films about immigration
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Marc Forster
Films set in Pakistan
Films set in Peshawar
Films set in the 1970s
Films set in the 1980s
Films set in the 1990s
Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area
Films shot in China
Films shot in Pakistan
2000s Persian-language films
Paramount Vantage films
Soviet–Afghan War films
Participant (company) films
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment films
Films about rape
Dari-language films
Films scored by Alberto Iglesias
Films produced by Walter F. Parkes
Films with screenplays by David Benioff
Films about refugees
Films about child sexual abuse
Works about kite flying
2000s English-language films
2007 multilingual films
American multilingual films
2000s American films
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