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"I became the person I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid winter day in 1975. I remember the precise moment: I was crouching behind a crumbling mud wall and peeking stealthily into the alley near the frozen creek. It was a long time ago. But it is not true, as many say, that the past can be buried. The past claws its way to the present. I have been peeking into that deserted alley for twenty-six years. Today I realize it." (Excerpt from the novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini)
It is just another day in California. Amir receives a phone call from an old family friend, Rahim, and from that moment his terrible past resurfaces inexorably along with his memories. Memories of that Afghanistan thirty years earlier, where walking the streets was not a threat to one's life, where a simple kite running competition became an occasion to celebrate and enliven all of Kabul. But also memories of Hassan, his friend, almost a brother to him, and of those endless sunny afternoons spent in the shade of an old tree sharing Afghan folklore stories.
Even though Amir is now an adult living in the United States with his wife, his mind retains the imprint of what happened on that day so many years ago: it's impossible for him not to feel guilty about the terrible experience that befell Hassan. But now, with Rahim's phone call, a door opens. An opportunity to redeem himself from that forgettable past. However, the biggest challenge remains: Amir must return to Afghanistan to pursue his goal.
Once he reaches his native country, he finds a reality entirely different from the one he left behind years ago. Soviet domination first, and then the establishment of the Taliban regime, have radically changed Kabul, transforming it into a grim and dangerous city where a word out of place can cost a life. Here Amir must complete his mission, and discover that there is a way to "become good again."
Marc Foster (and before him the writer Khaled Hosseini) succeeds in conveying the sense of joy experienced living in 1970s Kabul, seen through a child's eyes, and the profound change brought about by the numerous wars that have torn the country apart. Amir's tragic story overlaps with a landscape of initial wealth and happiness, and then poverty and terror.
"The Kite Runner" is a precious source of information about a country often forgotten, that many only know for the negative reputation attributed by recent wars. But if we look beyond appearances, we would discover that Afghanistan was once a noble nation, with origins and a culture that had little to envy compared to other nations.
The film inspired by the Afghan writer's bestseller is yet to be released in Italian cinemas (the scheduled date is March 21, 2008), while in other countries it has already been aired, with great critical success. But here too censorship has intervened. In fact, in Kabul itself (and in the rest of Afghanistan) the film will not be shown, because "it incites racial hatred," due to the rape scenes involving a child from the Hazara minority. One can only wonder if this is yet another move to blindfold a people that has been too repressed so far.
We, however, can only wait for its release in Italian theaters.
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