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The Kite Runner (2007)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
26 December 2007 (UK)
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Tagline:
There is a way to be good again.
Plot:
After spending years in California, Amir returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Afghanistan
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Friend
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Death
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Pakistan
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California
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Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 3 wins
&
13 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(75 articles)
Director Marc Forster on the Importance of Failure in Filmmaking
(From FirstShowing.net. 12 November 2009, 1:09 PM, PST)
Brothers Movie Trailer #2
(From Slash Film. 5 November 2009, 1:46 PM, PST)
(From FirstShowing.net. 12 November 2009, 1:09 PM, PST)
Brothers Movie Trailer #2
(From Slash Film. 5 November 2009, 1:46 PM, PST)
User Comments:
I hope Afghanistan shares a similar fate.
more (178 total)
US TV Schedule:
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 |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for strong thematic material including the rape of a child, violence and brief strong language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
128 min
Country:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
USA:PG-13 |
Canada:18A (British Columbia) |
UK:12A |
Australia:M |
Canada:13+ (Quebec) |
Canada:14A |
Netherlands:12 |
Ireland:15A |
Singapore:PG |
Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) |
Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) |
Hong Kong:IIA |
Brazil:12 |
South Korea:12 |
Argentina:13 |
Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) |
Sweden:11 |
Taiwan:PG-12 |
Germany:12 |
Finland:K-13 |
Malaysia:U |
New Zealand:M |
Iceland:12 |
France:U (with warning)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Author Khaled Hosseini describes the filming (in Kashgar, China) of the Kabul kite tournament scenes at 22:42 in the DVD commentary (stereo right) saying "There weren't actually any kites in the sky. We were just kind of looking up at these strings going up to these cables and hanging from the other side there were water bottles to give the string a sense of tension." To which director Marc Forster adds "Yes, because we had no wind." CG kites were added in post-production.
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Goofs:
Factual errors: 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:
Movie Connections:
References The Magnificent Seven (1960)
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Soundtrack:
Asta Bero
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FAQ
What have critics said?more
more (178 total)
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After seeing the prosthetic legs dropping from the sky by parachute in Kandahar (2001), one of the most memorable images in all of cinema, I wondered why there weren't more stories coming out of such a tumultuous country, tied to Americans forever by 9/11. And now I think I know why.
Such a beautifully-wrought adaptation of the wildly-popular novel of the same name, The Kite Runner is a model of fine film-making in almost all respects except one: It's too pat. So maybe Charlie Wilson's War will show me that films about Afghanistan will not revolve around formulae and clichés.
The redemption of the protagonist, Amir (Khalid Abdalla), has been told forever in literature and film, just not in Afghanistan. So no matter how tear-jerking the film may be, it is still a story told many times of a man who commits an egregious sin as a child but redeems himself in the end with an act of courage. Meanwhile, director Marc Forster and screenwriter David Beniof lace the film with the major motif, kite running, to such an ingenious extent that it not only ties in the hero's youth with his maturity, it also provides a figurative way of showing the desolation and hope of the country mixed of course with contradictory elements such as cutting string and blessed artificial legs.
Thus the film as metaphor is a success in showing the dismal past of a struggling country and its hopeful future. The cinematic images also emphasize this duality: The vistas with snow capped mountains and endless plains deflect the vision of a barren land where trees that manage to grow have been cut down by invaders, in this case 1979 Russia. The titular activity flourishes in large part because the arid, stony land offers few other possibilities. When the land is revisited in 2000, the limited country seems almost completely bereft of color and resources, a gray prison that parades adulterers to be stoned in the soccer stadium and little boys abused by an out-of-control Taliban.
But true to the formula, Amir has a second chance. I hope Afghanistan shares a similar fate.