Last weekend I went to see “The Kite Runner”. A beautiful strong movie about two boys, their childhood in Afghanistan, love and friendship, betrayal and redemption and a message that says: There is a way to be good again.
Excerpts from the Wikipedia summary:
Amir, a well-to-do Afghan boy, and Hassan, a Hazara (the son of his father’s servant Ali). The boys spend their days in a peaceful Kabul, kite fighting, roaming the streets and being boys. Amir’s father, Baba, loves both the boys, but seems often to favor Hassan. He is critical of Amir. Amir’s mother died in childbirth, and Amir fears his father blames him for his mother’s death. However, he has a kind father figure in the form of Rahim Khan, Baba’s friend, who understands Amir better, and is supportive of his interest in writing stories.
A notoriously violent older boy Assef, with Nazi sympathies, blames Amir for socialising with a Hazara, according to Assef an inferior race that should only live in Hazarajat. He prepares to attack Amir with his brass knuckles, but Hassan bravely stands up to him, threatening to shoot Assef in the eye with his slingshot. Assef and his henchmen back off, but Assef says he will take revenge.
Hassan is a “kite runner” for Amir, he runs to fetch kites Amir has defeated by cutting their strings. He knows where the kite will land without even seeing it. One triumphant day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Baba’s praise. Hassan goes to run the last cut kite, a great trophy, for Amir saying “For you, a thousand times over.” (…)
But that same day something happens that almost destroys their friendship forever.
(…) A short while later, the Russians invade Afghanistan; Amir and Baba escape to Peshawar, Pakistan and then to Fremont, California, where Amir and Baba, who lived in luxury in an expensive mansion in Afghanistan, settle in a humble apartment and Baba begins work at a gas station. Amir eventually takes classes at a local community college to develop his writing skills. (…)
Amir embarks on a successful career as a novelist. Fifteen years after they said goodbye, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, who is dying from an illness, who asks him to come to Pakistan. He enigmatically tells Amir “there is a way to be good again”. Amir goes. (…)
He learns that Hassan and his wife were killed by the Taliban and that their son Sohrab was taken by Assef, who is now a Taliban.
It is only now that Amir reads Hassan`s letter:
Amir Agha, with my deepest respects,
I`ve included a picture of me and my son SohrabI dream that God will guide us to a better day,
I dream that my son will grow up to be a good person,
I dream that lawla flowers will bloom in the streets of Kabul again and rubab music will play in the samovar houses and kites will fly in the skies.
And I dream that some day 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
Amir decides to rescue Sohrab and after a fierce fight with Assef he takes Sohrab back to America. However, Sohrab is emotionally damaged and refuses to speak. At the very end of the movie, Amir takes Sohrab kite flying and when they cut another boy`s kite, Amir runs the kite for Sohrab, saying, “For you, a thousand times over.”
There are many beautiful scenes in this movie that show breath-taking landscapes and colorful kites zig-zagging in the blue skies, … my favourite scene though is one of the few that makes you laugh:
Baba is seriously ill and has to go and see a doctor, so during the examination he asks the doctor where he comes from, and the doctor answers: From Michigan. But Baba is not yet satisfied and goes on asking, where do your ancestors come from? Russia, the doctor says.
Russia? Russia? Baba screams, jumps off the hospital bed, pushes the doctor away and rushes out of the room.
Hilarious! Go and see it!
To see some movie scenes and kite flying, go to the official Kite Runner movie site:
http://www.kiterunnermovie.com/
or watch the trailer in English or in German