for you, a thousand times over
the kite runner(dreamworks, paramount vantage, 2008)
direction | marc forster
cast | khalid abdalla, zekria ebrahimi, ahmad khan mahmidzada
let me start by saying how much i was moved by the film. that five hours after seeing the film, i still can't move on with my life. i can't sleep. and i just keep on wikipediaing all stuff related to the film. yes, it made me cry. i was weeping when the end credits was rolling.
i love the first part of the film. it tells about the relationship of two afghan boys. amir is the son of a well-off family while hassan is the child of amir's family servant. it is as if almost showing gay tendencies but you genuinely know it is not the case. it is the kind of friendship that is innocent, pure, and overwhelming. hassan has always stood up for amir. served him. defended him. being both a servant and friend. amir would read hassan stories and give him expensive gifts. later on, amir develops a feeling of guilt when he witnessed hassan being attacked by bullies and does nothing to save his friend. yet hassan remains loyal to amir. the characterization of the two boys is beautifully made and is real as it can be. the socio-cultural backdrop which is pre-soviet invasion afghanistan provided a more concrete foundation for the unequal yet powerful relationship between amir and hassan.
i've never seen such kind of a relationship portrayal recently in films. and how i wish that the film was just about it. the second part of the film is a let-down from the powerful and poetic stance from which the first half is playing on. it focused more on amir and his father's new life as migrants in the u.s. after the soviets invaded afghanistan. the film shifted its tone and point of view and became somehow propagandist. the first half actually can stand alone as one film and the second half as another. then i could say that there are two beautiful films.
i must say that the afghan child actor who played hassan is one wonder. i read that he won an award for his acting. he is a natural and a cutie. that is why my heart easily broken by him.
my most favorite scenes:
*when amir threw fruits on hassan and urged hassan to fight and throw fruits back at him. hassan could not do it. instead, hassan picked a fruit a threw it at himself.
*the scene where hassan was attacked by assef and walked out of it as if nothing happened then the camera pans down to show blood dripping from him.
*when hassan says "for you, a thousand times over" in the first half and when amir repeats this line in the end of the film.
my least liked scene:
the taliban sequences. the scene when amir entered a taliban house was suspenseful but quite unrealistic. more fictional than fiction, i guess.
as for the technical aspects, the musical score was fantastic. cinematography and editing were also good. especially in the kite scenes. in terms of pd, i just thought that amir's house was too modern for an '80s afghan upperclass family. the obb art was nice.
all in all, i would say that the film was emotionally sweeping in the beginning, politically charged in the middle and family-melodramatic in the end. hassan is unforgettable. and the line, for you, a thousand times over has just become a classic.
rating:
7 out of 10 hearts