The Kite Runner (film)
Encyclopedia
The Kite Runner is a 2007 drama film
directed by Marc Forster
based on the novel of the same name
by Khaled Hosseini
. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan
district of Kabul
, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan
through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of Afghan
refugees to Pakistan
and the United States, and the Taliban regime.
Though most of the film is set in Afghanistan
, these parts were mostly shot in Kashgar
, China
, due to the dangers of filming in Afghanistan at the time. the majority of the film's dialogue is in Dari
, with the remainder spoken in English. The child actor
s are native speaker
s, but several adult actors had to learn Dari. Filming wrapped up on December 21, 2006, and the film was expected to be released on November 2, 2007. However, after concern for the safety of the young actors in the film due to fears of violent reprisals to the sexual nature of some scenes in which they appear, its release date was pushed back six weeks to December 14, 2007. The Kite Runner was released on DVD
on March 25, 2008. A HD DVD
release was announced for the same date, but was canceled following the format's demise.
The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
in 2007. The film's score by Alberto Iglesias
was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes
and the Academy Awards
.
, prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
, well-to-do young boy Amir and his loyal young Hazara servant Hassan are best of friends. Amir enjoys writing and literature, reading stories to the eager but illiterate Hassan. Amir's Baba (father), is contemptuous of Amir's writing and privately regards him as a weakling for letting Hassan protect him from bullies
. Baba's friend Rahim Khan demonstrates interest and encourages Amir. Assef, a young psychopath with rancor toward Hazaras, confronts Hassan and Amir, but Hassan prevents the attack with a slingshot
, a birthday gift from Amir. Assef swears revenge, ridiculing their relationship as mere master and servant.
Soon the Soviets invade Afghanistan
; forcing Baba, a known anti-communist, to flee the country leaving Rahim Khan as property caretaker. En route to Pakistan, Baba bravely risks his life defending a female refugee from a Soviet
soldier who demands to rape her in return for safe passage for all. Baba and Amir eventually reach the United States as humble refugees in San Francisco, California
. Baba tends a gas station while Amir attends community college and vends at a weekly flea market. There, Amir meets Soraya Taheri; Soraya is interested in Amir's writing although her father, the ex-General Taheri, a proud traditional Pashtun
, is contemptuous. Baba is stricken mortally ill but manages to obtain General Taheri's permission for Amir to marry Soraya. Although Soraya feels bound to confess her previous relationships, they are happily married despite an inability to conceive children. As foreshadowed in the movie's first scene, Amir's debut novel is published, dedicated to Rahim Khan who encouraged his writing.
Rahim Khan soon contacts Amir to hurry to Pakistan, indicating "there is a way to be good again". Amir arrives to learn that Hassan eventually became caretaker of Baba's house, but the Taliban executed him and his wife for loyally refusing to abandon the property. Rahim further reveals that Hassan was in fact Amir's half-brother, son of Baba and the sterile Ali's wife. Amir, angered for being deceived so long, reads a heart-wrenching humble letter from Hassan decrying what happened to Afghanistan and asking Amir to one day return. Rahim Khan now reveals he wishes Amir to retrieve Hassan's now orphaned son, Sohrab. Amir, overcoming fearful reluctance, arrives in Taliban-controlled Kabul
complete with fake beard. Amir's driver, Farid, helps him observe the subjugated life under the cruel and ruthless Taliban.
Tracing Sohrab to an orphanage, they learn that a powerful Taliban official who regularly demands children for nefarious purposes (in return for much needed donations) has recently taken Sohrab. Amir and Farid are told that they can meet the powerful Taliban official at a football match, where he regularly 'punishes' innocent people. Reluctantly Amir accompanies Farid to a football match, witnessing a half time stoning of accused adulterers, in order to see this official. Amir arranges an appointment at the official's heavily guarded home and discovers that this is none other than the bully Assef. Despite the ban on music and dancing, a numbed Sohrab is presented as Assef's dance boy
.
Amir finally stands up to Assef, demanding Sohrab be released to him. Assef agrees but makes a deal, saying that Amir must fight and win the boy. In the end, Assef brutally beats Amir. Witnessing this, Sohrab, secretly in possession of the slingshot his father received from Amir so long ago, gravely wounds Assef by hurling a bolt in Assef's left eye (When Hassan stood up for Amir a long time ago, he threatened Assef that he would wound the same eye that Sohrab shot). Amir and Sohrab daringly escape the house. They flee the country to find that Rahim has died. Sohrab runs away from Amir but is found in front of the biggest Mosque in the world, saying he felt dirty because of what Assef did to him.
Amir takes the traumatized and withdrawn Sohrab back to the US. When General Taheri one night asks why Amir brought "that Hazara boy" back with him, Amir, again standing up to an overbearing figure, informs the General of their familial relationship and demands he never deride Sohrab as Hazara again. Later, Amir shows Sohrab the tricks of kite flying, which he and Hassan used to do in the old days. Slowly Sohrab begins to interact with Amir, who enthusiastically runs the kite, pledging to Sohrab with the phrase that Hassan offered to Amir so long ago: "For you, a thousand times over."
Author Khaled Hosseini mentions in the commentary that the name on the door "Dr. Amani" is his homage to his medical school roommate. He mentions in the documentary "Words from the Kite Runner" also on the DVD that he, himself, was a practicing physician for eight and a half years before choosing to concentrate on writing after 'The Kite Runner' book became successful...
The three boys were age 11 and 12 at the time of the filming.
, based on 165 reviews. On Metacritic
, the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
named it the 5th best film of 2007.
was used.
Initially Zekeria Ebrahimi (young Amir) and Ahmad Mahmidzada were paid $17,500 each, and Ali Dinesh $13,700; some argue that they were underpaid. Additionally, Ebrahimi has said "We want to study in the United States. It's a modern country and more safe than here in Kabul
. If I became rich here I would be worried about security. It's dangerous to have money because of the kidnapping." Paramount then relocated the three boy actors playing Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab—and another with a minor role playing Omar—each accompanied by a relative, to the United Arab Emirates
. Reportedly the studio accepted responsibility for the boys' living expenses until they reach adulthood, a cost some estimated at up to 500,000 dollars. After living four months in Dubai, Ebrahimi and his aunt returned to Kabul in March 2008. After threats to his life, Ebrahimi lives indoors and is home-schooled by an uncle. He says he wishes he had never been in the movie.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Marc Forster
Marc Forster
Marc Forster is a German-Swiss filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction, The Kite Runner, and Quantum of Solace.- Life and career :...
based on the novel of the same name
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it is Hosseini's first novel, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007....
by Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
. It tells the story of Amir, a well-to-do boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan
Wazir Akbar Khān
Wazir Akbar Khān is a neighbourhood in northern Kabul, Afghanistan. It is the wealthiest area in Kabul. Many embassies are located, including the U.S. and Canadian. Wazir Akbar Khān is also home to the Kabul International Airport....
district of Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, who is tormented by the guilt of abandoning his friend Hassan, the son of his father's Hazara servant. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
through the Soviet invasion, the mass exodus of Afghan
Afghans in Pakistan
Afghans in Pakistan are mostly refugees who fled Afghanistan during the 1980s Soviet war as well as diplomats, traders, businesspersons, workers, exchange students, tourists and other visitors. As of March 2009, some 1.7 million registered Afghan nationals were reported to be living in Pakistan,...
refugees to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and the United States, and the Taliban regime.
Though most of the film is set in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, these parts were mostly shot in Kashgar
Kashgar
Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, due to the dangers of filming in Afghanistan at the time. the majority of the film's dialogue is in Dari
Dari (Eastern Persian)
Dari or Fārsī-ye Darī in historical terms refers to the Persian court language of the Sassanids. In contemporary usage, the term refers to the dialects of modern Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and hence known as Afghan Persian in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized...
, with the remainder spoken in English. The child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
s are native speaker
Native Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
s, but several adult actors had to learn Dari. Filming wrapped up on December 21, 2006, and the film was expected to be released on November 2, 2007. However, after concern for the safety of the young actors in the film due to fears of violent reprisals to the sexual nature of some scenes in which they appear, its release date was pushed back six weeks to December 14, 2007. The Kite Runner was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on March 25, 2008. A HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
release was announced for the same date, but was canceled following the format's demise.
The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the awards presented at the Golden Globes, an American film awards ceremony.Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film could be honoured...
in 2007. The film's score by Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias
Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi is a Spanish composer. He wrote the music for several Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar...
was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes
65th Golden Globe Awards
The 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
and the Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
.
Plot
In KabulKabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, well-to-do young boy Amir and his loyal young Hazara servant Hassan are best of friends. Amir enjoys writing and literature, reading stories to the eager but illiterate Hassan. Amir's Baba (father), is contemptuous of Amir's writing and privately regards him as a weakling for letting Hassan protect him from bullies
Bullies
Bullies is a 1986 Canadian action-drama film about a feud between two families in a small town in a similar vein to the story of Romeo and Juliet...
. Baba's friend Rahim Khan demonstrates interest and encourages Amir. Assef, a young psychopath with rancor toward Hazaras, confronts Hassan and Amir, but Hassan prevents the attack with a slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
, a birthday gift from Amir. Assef swears revenge, ridiculing their relationship as mere master and servant.
Soon the Soviets invade Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
; forcing Baba, a known anti-communist, to flee the country leaving Rahim Khan as property caretaker. En route to Pakistan, Baba bravely risks his life defending a female refugee from a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
soldier who demands to rape her in return for safe passage for all. Baba and Amir eventually reach the United States as humble refugees in San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Baba tends a gas station while Amir attends community college and vends at a weekly flea market. There, Amir meets Soraya Taheri; Soraya is interested in Amir's writing although her father, the ex-General Taheri, a proud traditional Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, is contemptuous. Baba is stricken mortally ill but manages to obtain General Taheri's permission for Amir to marry Soraya. Although Soraya feels bound to confess her previous relationships, they are happily married despite an inability to conceive children. As foreshadowed in the movie's first scene, Amir's debut novel is published, dedicated to Rahim Khan who encouraged his writing.
Rahim Khan soon contacts Amir to hurry to Pakistan, indicating "there is a way to be good again". Amir arrives to learn that Hassan eventually became caretaker of Baba's house, but the Taliban executed him and his wife for loyally refusing to abandon the property. Rahim further reveals that Hassan was in fact Amir's half-brother, son of Baba and the sterile Ali's wife. Amir, angered for being deceived so long, reads a heart-wrenching humble letter from Hassan decrying what happened to Afghanistan and asking Amir to one day return. Rahim Khan now reveals he wishes Amir to retrieve Hassan's now orphaned son, Sohrab. Amir, overcoming fearful reluctance, arrives in Taliban-controlled Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
complete with fake beard. Amir's driver, Farid, helps him observe the subjugated life under the cruel and ruthless Taliban.
Tracing Sohrab to an orphanage, they learn that a powerful Taliban official who regularly demands children for nefarious purposes (in return for much needed donations) has recently taken Sohrab. Amir and Farid are told that they can meet the powerful Taliban official at a football match, where he regularly 'punishes' innocent people. Reluctantly Amir accompanies Farid to a football match, witnessing a half time stoning of accused adulterers, in order to see this official. Amir arranges an appointment at the official's heavily guarded home and discovers that this is none other than the bully Assef. Despite the ban on music and dancing, a numbed Sohrab is presented as Assef's dance boy
Bacchá
Bacha Bazi , also known as bacchá or bacha bereesh is sexual slavery and child prostitution in which prepubescent and adolescent boys are sold to wealthy or powerful men for entertainment...
.
Amir finally stands up to Assef, demanding Sohrab be released to him. Assef agrees but makes a deal, saying that Amir must fight and win the boy. In the end, Assef brutally beats Amir. Witnessing this, Sohrab, secretly in possession of the slingshot his father received from Amir so long ago, gravely wounds Assef by hurling a bolt in Assef's left eye (When Hassan stood up for Amir a long time ago, he threatened Assef that he would wound the same eye that Sohrab shot). Amir and Sohrab daringly escape the house. They flee the country to find that Rahim has died. Sohrab runs away from Amir but is found in front of the biggest Mosque in the world, saying he felt dirty because of what Assef did to him.
Amir takes the traumatized and withdrawn Sohrab back to the US. When General Taheri one night asks why Amir brought "that Hazara boy" back with him, Amir, again standing up to an overbearing figure, informs the General of their familial relationship and demands he never deride Sohrab as Hazara again. Later, Amir shows Sohrab the tricks of kite flying, which he and Hassan used to do in the old days. Slowly Sohrab begins to interact with Amir, who enthusiastically runs the kite, pledging to Sohrab with the phrase that Hassan offered to Amir so long ago: "For you, a thousand times over."
Trivia
Director Marc Forster mentions in the DVD commentary that in the book the servant boy, Hassan, was a harelip (cleft upper lip), but that was left out of the film because it would have required two hours of makeup every day, it would have been difficult for the boy to act in the makeup, he didn't want to put the boy through it, and it wasn't essential to the script.Author Khaled Hosseini mentions in the commentary that the name on the door "Dr. Amani" is his homage to his medical school roommate. He mentions in the documentary "Words from the Kite Runner" also on the DVD that he, himself, was a practicing physician for eight and a half years before choosing to concentrate on writing after 'The Kite Runner' book became successful...
Cast
- Khalid AbdallaKhalid AbdallaKhalid Abdalla is a Egyptian-British actor. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning film, United 93. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, it chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked as part of the...
as Amir - Zekeria EbrahimiZekeria EbrahimiZekeria Ebrahimi is an Afghan actor.Ebrahimi is possibly best known for his role in the 2007 film The Kite Runner as Young Amir....
as Young Amir - Ahmad Khan MahmidzadaAhmad Khan MahmidzadaAhmad Khan Mahmoodzada , an ethnic Hazara, is a child actor from Afghanistan. He played the role of Hassan, the loyal friend and servant of the richer boy Amir, in the movie The Kite Runner....
as Young Hassan - Homayoun ErshadiHomayoun ErshadiHomayoun Ershadi is an Iranian actor.Ershadi was born in Isfahan, Iran in 1947. He studied architecture in Italy and worked in that field. Acclaimed Iranian New Wave director Abbas Kiarostami chose him to play the leading role in Taste of Cherry...
as Baba/Agha Sahib - Atossa LeoniAtossa LeoniAtossa Leoni Atossa Leoni Atossa Leoni (1977- ） is an actress who has been working internationally in film, television and theater since childhood.Of Iranian descent, Atossa was born in Berlin, Germany, raised in various countries throughout Europe and schooled in the United States...
as Soraya - Shaun ToubShaun ToubShaun Toub is an Iranian-American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Farhad in the 2004 movie Crash, as Rahim Khan in the movie The Kite Runner, and as Yinsen in the movie Iron Man.-Personal life:...
as Rahim Khan - Abdul Salaam Yusoufzai as Assef
- Elham Ehsas as Young Assef
- Ali Danish Bakhtyari as Sohrab
- Saïd TaghmaouiSaïd TaghmaouiSaïd Taghmaoui is a French actor and screenwriter. One of his defining screen roles was that of Saïd in the award winning 1995 French film La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz...
as Farid - Qadir Farookh as General Taheri
- Khaled HosseiniKhaled HosseiniKhaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
(cameoCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
) as Doctor in the park - Camilo Cuervo as a Taliban Soldier
The three boys were age 11 and 12 at the time of the filming.
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews, earning a 66% "fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 165 reviews. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the film had an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
named it the 5th best film of 2007.
Ban
The Afghan government has banned the film from movie theaters and DVD stores because of the rape scene and the ethnic tensions and class struggles that the film highlights.Criticism
Though the child actors enjoyed making the film, they and their families have expressed worries about their situation now that the film is done. Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada (young Hassan) said regarding one scene "I want to continue making films and be an actor but the rape scene upset me because my friends will watch it and I won't be able to go outside any more. They will think I was raped." The scene has been depicted in a less harrowing manner than originally planned: there is no nudity in it, not even underpants are exposed; an attack is shown, and a sexual aspect is suggested only very briefly at the end of the scene, by a trousers buckle being undone, trousers being tugged slightly down, and unzipping a fly. Even for that a body doubleBody double
A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...
was used.
Initially Zekeria Ebrahimi (young Amir) and Ahmad Mahmidzada were paid $17,500 each, and Ali Dinesh $13,700; some argue that they were underpaid. Additionally, Ebrahimi has said "We want to study in the United States. It's a modern country and more safe than here in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
. If I became rich here I would be worried about security. It's dangerous to have money because of the kidnapping." Paramount then relocated the three boy actors playing Amir, Hassan, and Sohrab—and another with a minor role playing Omar—each accompanied by a relative, to the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. Reportedly the studio accepted responsibility for the boys' living expenses until they reach adulthood, a cost some estimated at up to 500,000 dollars. After living four months in Dubai, Ebrahimi and his aunt returned to Kabul in March 2008. After threats to his life, Ebrahimi lives indoors and is home-schooled by an uncle. He says he wishes he had never been in the movie.
Awards and nominations
Nominations- 65th Golden Globe Awards65th Golden Globe AwardsThe 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Best Original Score - Motion Picture (Alberto IglesiasAlberto IglesiasAlberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi is a Spanish composer. He wrote the music for several Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar...
)
- 80th Academy Awards80th Academy AwardsThe 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
- Best Original Score (Alberto IglesiasAlberto IglesiasAlberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi is a Spanish composer. He wrote the music for several Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar...
)
- Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias
External links
- Discussion of Kite Runner adaptation
- A North Hollywood kite fighter's lofty dream, story of the film's kite master (LA Times)
- Kite Runner flies into controversy