The Kite Runner

Have you seen a movie that touched you so deeply that you almost cried watching it, and you kept thinking and thinking about it few days after that? The Kite Runner did just that to me.

This a powerful story about two young boys in Afghanistan whose friendship spanned from the days before the war until the moment one of them died. This is an honest telling themed at the peculiar behaviour of young kids, how one’s act affects the course of his relationship with the other for their entire life. Soon as we ponder on the story, we will come to realize that the subject is all too familiar to everyone, not just kids. Above all, The Kite Runner explores the essence of sincerity, a quality that we rarely find today in human’s life. To the outside world, this tale also gives them a renewed picture of the Muslim world in particular Afghanistan amidst the roughness of war.

This movie started off with a scene from present time, beautifully intertwined with events of the past as remembered by the main character that would later change his future outcome. Amir and Hassan were good friends in the pre-war days of Afghanistan despite the difference in their socio-economic class, and looked set to remain so for the rest of their lives. Afghanistan in these days was wonderful, so calm, epitomized by the penchant of local kids for flying kites in the sky. Among those kids are Amir and Hassan. The former comes from a rich, well-known family and has everything a kid could ask for, while the latter is only a son of a servant and a Hazara, always dubbed as a second-class ethnic in Afghanistan. Hassan, however, always stood up for Amir in difficult times.

One fine day a plain act by Hassan suddenly threw him into trouble, and worse still Amir decided to betray his good friend during this crucial time. One quick look will lead us to suggest that such is only an act of an immature child, too young to learn the time they should stand up for dear friend. However as we analyze further, it will dawn on us that that is a natural act of mankind. We often try to avoid landing ourselves into a minor trouble, even if that means leaving the others close to fatal. This, for me is the most important issue brought up by The Kite Runner, far outweighing the value of friendship shown by Hassan.

Naturally, Amir’s betrayal act cracked the friendship of the two apart. Amir’s treatment towards Hassan turned harsh, while Hassan still remained his usual self; sincere, loyal and always tried to defend Ali despite the undeserved treatment. The invasion of foreign forces that follow soon totally separated the two, as Amir and his father chose to leave Afghanistan.

It was never told in the story whether Amir decided to forget about Hassan as time passed by. But personally, I strongly believe that he did not.

Much later Amir got a call asking him to go to Pakistan, and soon he learnt about the truth about Hassan. Amir discovered that he had a chance to be good again, but first he must return to the war-torn land of Afghanistan. I shall not disclose the plot further as I am sure those of you here who have not yet watched this movie want a sense of respect to not reveal the whole storyline.

As I already said, this is a powerful story of friendship on the land of Afghanistan. This is also a tale about standing up for people around you, and for what you think is right. Go watch it or read the original novel by Khaled Hosseini, I am sure you will not regret.