The Kite Runner (2007)

After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble.

Director:

Marc Forster

Writers:

David Benioff (screenplay), Khaled Hosseini (novel)

Stars:

Khalid Abdalla, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, Atossa Leoni

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Khalid Abdalla	...	Amir
Atossa Leoni	...	Soraya
Shaun Toub	...	Rahim Khan
Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada	...	Omar
Zekeria Ebrahimi	...	Young Amir
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada	...	Young Hassan
Mir Mahmood Shah Hashimi	...	Business Man in Baba's Study
Homayoun Ershadi	...	Baba
Nabi Tanha	...	Ali
Elham Ehsas	...	Young Assef
Bahram Ehsas	...	Wali
Tamim Nawabi	...	Kamal
Mohamad Nabi Attai	...	Uncle Saifo the Kite Seller
Mohamad Nadir Sarwari	...	Spice Merchant
Mustafa Haidari	...	Party Worker

Storyline

In the 70's in Afghanistan, the Pushtun boy Amir and the Hazara boy Hassan, who is his loyal friend and son of their Hazara servant Ali, are raised together in Amir's father house, playing and kiting on the streets of a peaceful Kabul. Amir feels that his wise and good father Baba blames him for the death of his mother in the delivery, and also that his father loves and prefers Hassan to him. In return, Amir feels a great respect for his father's best friend Rahim Khan, who supports his intention to become a writer. After Amir winning a competition of kiting, Hassan runs to bring a kite to Amir, but he is beaten and raped by the brutal Assef in an empty street to protect Amir's kite; the coward Amir witness the assault but does not help the loyal Hassam. On the day after his birthday party, Amir hides his new watch in Hassam's bed to frame the boy as a thief and force his father to fire Ali, releasing his conscience from recalling his cowardice and betrayal. In 1979, the Russians ...

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | friend | afghanistan | boy | kite | 

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Taglines:

There is a way to be good again.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong thematic material including the rape of a child, violence and brief strong language

Details

Country:

USA China

Language:

Dari English Pushto Russian Urdu

Release Date:

11 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cometas en el cielo

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$471,713, 16 December 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$15,800,078

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$74,180,745

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks,Sidney Kimmel Entertainment,Participant Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the Afghanistan scenes were shot in Kashgar and Tashkurgan, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The DVD commentary mentions that scenes shot in Kashgar include: the kite tournament, the mosque where Amir prays, and Rahim Khan's apartment in Peshawar, Pakistan. Scenes shot in Tashkurgan include the opening scenes of a kite duel and the boys running the kite, the pomegranate tree, and the Taliban compound where Amir meets Sohrab. The wedding and the soccer match were shot in Beijing. The San Francisco bar scene was also shot in China.

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Goofs

In the scene at the stadium just before the Taliban official gives his speech there is a soccer game going on and most of the players are wearing shorts. The Taliban did not allow shorts or revealing clothes of any kind to be worn, even at an athletic event. They imprisoned and persecuted members of visiting Pakistani teams for wearing shorts.

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Quotes

Baba: [regarding the mullahs, who teach that drinking alcohol is a sin] I piss on the beards of all those self-righteous monkeys.

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Connections

References The Magnificent Seven (1960)

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Soundtracks

Jadoo Kardei Jana
Written by Trana Saz
Performed by Haider Salim
Courtesy of Cinevision Studio

User Reviews

READ THE BOOK.... very disappointing film.

Having just read the book and a day later watched the film I can tell you I was severely disappointed. To be fair there was quite a bit to shoehorn into the film and as a result the film moved at an amazing pace compared with the book. Plenty was left some of it quite important in my opinion. A good example - Hassan actually had an operation for his birthday present from Amir's father to correct his harelip not a kite! I think because so many of the scenes in the film were very short as they were trying to fit so much into the film there is little time to engage with the characters and have any emotional attachment to them. This made the film almost not caring about its purpose. The emotion of the book never appeared in the film. I was not upset or distressed at all. I should have been. The truth of the tale is devastating. But the actors didn't seem engaged in the weight of their portrayal.

In short PLEASE READ THE BOOK! The film is weak and soulless.