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The Kite Runner

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The Kite Runner (2007)

December. 14,2007
|
7.6
|
PG-13
| Drama
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After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

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Reviews

SoTrumpBelieve
2007/12/14

Must See Movie...

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Adeel Hail
2007/12/15

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

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Freeman
2007/12/16

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

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Zlatica
2007/12/17

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

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cilliano-26611
2007/12/18

Good movie, young fella gets buggered up the arse in it

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svikasha
2007/12/19

"The Kite Runner" is a film adaptation of a 2003 novel of the same name. The movie is chock-full of stunning visuals in its depictions of Kabul both before and after the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. But the subject matter of the film is very grim. In "The Kite Runner", the main protagonist is a Pashtun boy named Amir who flees to America with his courageous father after the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to prop up the Communist party of the country in 1979. Amir grew up flying kites which was a common practice among the children of Afghanistan at one time. Amir's "kite runner" was a Hazara boy named Hassan.The "Kite Runner" tells a story of redemption while also depicting the atrocious practice of Bacha Bazi. Bacha Bazi is a slang term for a practice that involves child sexual abuse that takes place in many central Asian countries such as Afghanistan. Under the Taliban's rule from 1994-2001, the practice of Bacha Bazi officially carried the death penalty. It remains illegal under Afghan law today, but the law has always been seldom enforced. This is especially the case against powerful offenders. Bacha Bazi is among the worst forms of theft. It is a theft of a person's innocence. One of the most poignant lines of the film says, ""There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness". Bacha Bazi is a horrendous practice that deserves more attention and condemnation from the international community. Hazaras are an ethnic minority within Afghanistan. Hassan was a member of this minority and worked as Amir's servant. Despite being treated well by Amir and his father, he is tormented by many Pashtuns elsewhere due to stigma. At one point in the film, Hassan is pinned down and raped by the children of prominent Pashtuns in Kabul. Amir "jan", as he is formally called, witnesses this horrific event and doesn't intervene. Instead he attempts to frame Hassan for theft to remove the awkward obstacle of dealing with the event from his life. Decades pass by. Amir Jan escapes Afghanistan and grows up and gets married in sunny California. But the American dream is interrupted when Amir is brought back to Asia by his father's old friend, a humble man named Rahim Khan. Khan informs Amir that Hassan was actually his half-brother. Hassan was eventually murdered by one of his childhood tormenters who had risen to a high rank within the Taliban. Amir's half-nephew, Hassan's young son was taken and forced to become a dancing boy and sexual slave to the high-ranking official within the corrupt Taliban government. The rest of the story is about how Amir rescues his nephew Sohrab from the Taliban. Afghanistan is a tragic place. The country has its own version of strange fruit. One of the most powerful moments in the film happens when the main character reads a letter written by his deceased childhood friend Hassan. As the protagonist reads the letter, a crate of fruit falls as if to represent the lost souls in this desolate land. The first line of the letter reads, Bismillah ir-Rahman ir- Rahim. It loosely translates to "In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate". The letter goes on to say," I've included a picture of me and my son, Sohrab. He's a good boy. Rahim Khan and I taught him how to read and write, so he doesn't grow up stupid like his father. And can he shoot with that slingshot you gave me! But I fear for him, Amir agha. The Afghanistan of our youth is long dead. Kindness is gone from the land, and you cannot escape the killings. Always the killings. I dream that God will guide us to a better day. I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person, a free person, an important person. I dream that flowers will bloom in the streets of Kabul again, and music will play in the samovar houses, and kites will fly in the skies. And I dream that someday you will return to Kabul to revisit the land of our childhood. If you do, you'll find an old faithful friend waiting for you. May God be with you always. Hassan".

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Maddie Grace
2007/12/20

I had to read this book for my Honors English class this summer and I absolutely loved it. The characters they seemed as real to me as my family members. When I finished the book the characters seemed to haunt me, in a good way. After I finished the book I considered watching the movie but I was afraid that the directors had ruined it. The night before finals I decided to watch it to refresh my memory. And boy was I right! Although the casting and the filming were good the script had a lot more to give. It seemed as though the writers had chosen bits and pieces out of the book and stuck it together to make a movie. Yes, they added all of the key moments in Amir's life but they only told half of them, there was still a lot more to the moments that needed to be told. I know that with movies it is difficult for the writers and directors to take us inside the characters minds, but it is possible for them to help us understand the characters and their actions. If I had not read the book I don't think that I would have understood this story as much as I do now.

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jordan_cuzner
2007/12/21

I felt like I was a watching an extremely fast forward version of the book made by people who made a grade A soundtrack, BUT felt like people didn't deserve to see all the books glory. They left out so many essential scenes from the book and the details as gruesome as they are and the description of people. Giving this movie a seven is high because it was an okay movie but I never once felt happy watching it. The main character made me truly hate him the whole time..the whole movie I never really liked him he just made me angry, while in the book I went from finding him from being a foolish boy to a man who loves his baba and wife and has a strong will. There only glory was Hassan and Baba and even then baba was truly downgraded. The scene where the adulterers get stoned was all wrong and assefs whole well-being was nothing like he was meant to look, like the scene at the birthday party his mother wasn't there and his parents weren't looking scared of there son. They left out so many scenes that could of added emotional depth. I kept watching the movie like is that it. They didn't include Hassan's mother, they didn't make Farrid seem closed off to Amir at first. When assef was starting the fight he didn't tell his guards the facts that if they step out thy are free. They missed so much. I had so much hope for this movie.

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