Kite Runner

Kite Runner – (Khalid Abdallah, Homayoun Ershadi, Atossa Leoni, Shaun Toub) — Afghanistan has never been a rich country but it has a proud history that is brought to life in this beautiful movie about a boy who grew up there but moved to a comfortable existence in the United States.  Having grown in Kabul at a time before the Russians invaded and the Taliban took over, he escaped with his well-to-do father when the Russians came.  His childhood was full of good memories (except one), particularly of the days he spent with his best friend flying kites and participating in the annual contest.  The goal of the contest was to disable others’ kites by cutting them with your string, capturing the opponents’ kites.  The contestants consisted of pairs, one to manipulate the string and fly the kite while the other holds and distributes the string as needed.  The holder also got to run down the disabled kites, hence the “kite runners.”  Our protagonist, Amir (Khalid Abdallah, the Arab pilot from United 93) was the flyer; his friend, the kite runner.  But Amir was not a brave boy, eschewed confrontation, and was ridiculed for it.  The friend, Hassan, was brave and protected his friend.  But when the bullies caught up with Hassan and raped him (in a controversial scene that resulted in the young boy, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, having to flee his native Afghanistan before the movie was released), Amir just watched and did not help.  This haunted him through his young adulthood.  Now westernized, Amir gets married to an Afghani-American but goes to Pakistan when his now deceased father’s close friend asks him to come.  He discovers that his childhood friend has been killed, leaving behind a son, who is in an orphanage in Kabul.  He then makes a dangerous pilgrimage home to retrieve … and save … the boy.  There are twists to the story I won’t tell you but it makes for compelling drama.  While subtitled, the movie moves quickly, is tense at times, and tells a story of love and friendship that transcends nationalities.  This is a fine film that shouldn’t be missed.