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Captain Haddock
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Posted on 10-04-07 1:06
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Thought this might be of interest for some : Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/04/arts/04kite.php
From left, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada and Zekiria Ebrahimi portray lifelong
friends from rival Afghan ethnic groups in "The Kite Runner." (Phil Bray/Paramount Classics) 'The Kite Runner' is delayed to protect child stars
LOSANGELES:
The studio distributing "The Kite Runner," a tale of childhood
betrayal, sexual predation and ethnic tension in Afghanistan, is
delaying the film's release to get its three schoolboy stars out of
Kabul — perhaps permanently — in response to fears that they could be
attacked for their enactment of a culturally inflammatory rape scene.
Executives
at the distributor, Paramount Vantage, are contending with issues
stemming from the rising lawlessness in Kabul in the year since the
boys were cast.
The boys and their relatives are now accusing
the filmmakers of mistreatment, and warnings have been relayed to the
studio from Afghan and American officials and aid workers that the
movie could aggravate simmering enmities between the politically
dominant Pashtun and the long-oppressed Hazara.
In an effort
to prevent not only a public-relations disaster but also possible
violence, studio lawyers and marketing bosses have employed a
stranger-than-fiction team of consultants. In August they sent a
retired Central Intelligence Agency counterterrorism operative in the
region to Kabul to assess the dangers facing the child actors. And on
Sunday a Washington-based political adviser flew to the United Arab
Emirates to arrange a safe haven for the boys and their relatives.
"If we're being overly cautious, that's O.K.," Karen Magid, a lawyer for Paramount, said. "We're in uncharted territory." In interviews, more than a dozen people involved in the studio's
response described grappling with vexing questions: testing the limits
of corporate responsibility, wondering who was exploiting whom and
pondering the price of on-screen authenticity.
"The Kite
Runner," like the best-selling 2003 novel by Khaled Hosseini on which
it is based, spans three decades of Afghan strife, from before the
Soviet invasion through the rise of the Taliban. At its heart is a
friendship between Amir, a wealthy Pashtun boy played by Zekiria
Ebrahimi, and Hassan, the Hazara son of Amir's father's servant. In a
pivotal scene Hassan is raped in an alley by a Pashtun bully. Later,
Sohrab, a Hazara boy played by Ali Danish Bakhty Ari, is preyed on by a
corrupt Taliban official.
Though the book is admired in
Afghanistan by many in the elite, its narrative remains unfamiliar to
the broader population, for whom oral storytelling and rumor
communication carry far greater weight.
The Taliban destroyed
nearly all movie theaters in Afghanistan, but pirated DVDs often arrive
soon after a major film's release in the West. As a result, Paramount
Vantage, the art-house and specialty label of Paramount Pictures, has
pushed back the release of the $18 million movie by six weeks, to Dec.
14, when the young stars' school year will have ended.
In
January in Afghanistan, DVDs of "Kabul Express" — an Indian film in
which a character hurls insults at Hazara — led to protests, government
denunciations and calls for the execution of the offending actor, who
fled the country.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the "Kite
Runner" actor who plays Hassan, Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada, 12, told
reporters at that time that he feared for his life because his fellow
Hazara might feel humiliated by his rape scene. His father said he
himself was misled by the film's producers, insisting that they never
told him of the scene until it was about to be shot and that they had
promised to cut it.
Hangama Anwari, the child-rights
commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission,
said on Monday that she had urged Paramount's counterterrorism
consultant to get Ahmad Khan out of the country, at least until after
the movie is released. "They should not play around with the lives and
security of people," she said of the filmmakers. "The Hazara people
will take it as an insult."
The film's director, Marc
Forster, whose credits include "Finding Neverland" (2004), another film
starring child actors, said he saw "The Kite Runner" as "giving a voice
and a face to people who've been voiceless and faceless for the last 30
years." Striving for authenticity, he said, he chose to make the film
in Dari, an Afghan language, and his casting agent, Kate Dowd, held
open calls in cities with sizable Afghan communities, including
Fremont, California, Toronto and The Hague. But to no avail: Forster
said he "just wasn't connecting with anybody."
Finally, when
Dowd went to Kabul in May 2006, she discovered her stars. "There was
such innocence to them, despite all they'd lived through," she said.
Forster
emphasized that casting Afghan boys did not seem risky at the time;
local filmmakers even encouraged him, he said: "You really felt it was
safe there, a democratic process was happening, and stability, and a
new beginning." More here
Last edited: 04-Oct-07 01:07 PM
Last edited: 04-Oct-07 01:08 PM
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flip_flop
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Posted on 10-04-07 3:31
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Can't wait to see the movie. The storyline is beautiful.
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Captain Haddock
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Posted on 10-04-07 4:41
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lootekukur
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Posted on 10-04-07 4:54
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whoa! i have been wanting to see a realistic movie for a while. have had enough of one too many flicks on animations, superheros and their flying, crawling and all which somehow do not succeed to leave any impression on me in the long run. a beautiful novel (although i have read only a few pages of it :P) is being captured on celluloid BRAVO...that's pretty exciting as for the prospect goes. not sure whether they will be able to live up to the expectation though..anyways, i have my fingers crossed thanks for sharing ole chap
Last edited: 04-Oct-07 04:55 PM
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Bob Marley
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Posted on 10-04-07 5:46
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i heard the book was pretty good, but i do not read, so i'll wait for the movie.
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KaLyx
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Posted on 10-04-07 7:36
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i'm dying to watch this movie.
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sndy
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Posted on 10-04-07 8:43
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Abui, maile lekheko khoi? Did you delete my post Capt saab?
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Poon-Hill
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Posted on 10-04-07 8:48
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Wow can't wait to see this movie
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Captain Haddock
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Posted on 10-05-07 9:55
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Brig Ma'am - I did no such thing. I even went to check my mail box to see if there was a delete notification and there was none. Are you sure you posted? :)
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lootekukur
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Posted on 12-05-07 10:57
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yo cappy-my-buddy-ole-pal (missing for unknown reasons :P) and other folks! i watched the movie yesterday in a special screening function . overall, i must say i liked it. while it's needless to iterate that the adaptation of pages of events from a novel into a couple-of-hours-long movie is not always justified in terms of inclusion of all the events and characters, picturization of some of the important events and some light moments as well are awe-inspiring. truly! performances, especially of the kids and Amir --the protagonist-- are also praiseworthy. a couple of heart-wrenching sequences have been shot very well (you know when they will come if you have read the novel), while few sequences, like when Amir meets with the antagonist to take Hassan's child from him, have been rushed a bit from being realistic. Rahman's characterization could have been better. he doesn't get much scope in the movie although it's an important character in the novel. all in all, worth a watch. my verdict: * * * (3 star that is!)
Last edited: 05-Dec-07 11:57 PM
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flip_flop
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Posted on 12-06-07 1:44
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. Have you read the book yet Looteji? Three star doesn't sound too good especially when the book did so well. I shall wait and watch!:-)
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Samsara
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Posted on 12-06-07 1:53
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Haddock's back with a bang!! Can't wait for the movie now especially with all the teaser brought about here. BTW, welcome back. I just hope allz been good in yo hood! Laterzzz
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phoenix
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Posted on 12-06-07 10:05
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This is one movie that i have been waiting for - eagerly !
The book was a real good read and i hope the movie does justice to it.
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sndy
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Posted on 12-06-07 10:14
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I'm looking forward to watch the movie..tara I always feel they can never make a better movie out of a good book.. Capt. saab, your ol' buddy Loots trying to get you out of your hidings..get here now !!
Last edited: 06-Dec-07 01:37 PM
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Bob Marley
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Posted on 12-06-07 11:30
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Before I watch the movie, I was given crash course history of Afganistan and the social structure. If I'm wrong at any point, please let me know.
Hazara are actually Tibeto-Burmese looking people like many in those "ISTAN" countries (turk invaded history). They're Sunni Muslim and are at the bottom of the social chain;throughout the history of Afganistan, they have been mistreated by the Pastuns and now the Taliban.
If I'm not wrong, this will be the starting point of better understanding the movie. I do not read. Reading sucks.
Let me know fellows.
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lootekukur
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Posted on 12-06-07 12:10
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flips Ji, yes i finished reading the book only a few weeks back although i had been wanting to read it for a long time but then oh well time constraint and all and i am not so voracious reader either. the 3 stars was actually given relative to the excellence of the novel. i might have been a little too stringent on rating and stuffs, but that's me . compared to other adapted plots like those of da vinci code or lord of the rings, i think the plot of the kite runner was more suited for better adaptation into a movie and they have done a fine job. of course, you don't go through all the different kinds of emotional rides while watching a 1.5-2 hrs movie of a masterpiece novel than when actually reading the novel itself no matter how good the adaptation is. tetti matra ho. sn di, true that! movie making and story writing are two different formats/forms of art. to be fair, i honestly feel that they should not be juxtaposed. no two forms of art deserves to be compared. but then when a story that was once the bestseller is captured in celluloid in accordance to the vision of a handful of people, comparison is inevitable. haha...and yeah sum-off's stories are worth an adaptation. i hope he writes a long enough story one day and then they might go about adapting it . short stories should not be risked of going thorough adaptation unless they are ready to be treated like 'saawariya' by the vigilant audience Bob Marley, you are almost completely right. yes, hazaras are of mongolian origin. they are believed to be the descendants of the armies and settlers of Genghiz Khan's mongolians. they are predominantly shia muslims not suni though... there are many online references you can go through to brush up on the history of Afghanistan if you want to. there are not whole lot of things to be understood before going for the movie..
Last edited: 06-Dec-07 12:13 PM
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lootekukur
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Posted on 12-06-07 12:29
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oh btw, since now i revived this old thread of captain, it is worthwhile to leave a line or two for him too, no? captain, wherever you are and be it on the purpose of vacation or otherwise, my all the best for all your future endeavors. . if it takes my admittance of my admiration for you in public to get you back to this place, then here i go: "i am missing you ole chap!" now get your a$$ back
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nails
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Posted on 12-06-07 1:20
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I LOVED the kite runner...it's one of favorite books! I enjoyed it immensely and I remember crying at the same time because it was so deep....I also remember that there were so many things that were there but unspoken of which made the book even more special and you just couldn't put it down. I don't want to give anything way to those who yet have to read the book but I def. recommend reading the book before hand. i can't wait to see the movie but i am sure it can't be as good as the book..
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sndy
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Posted on 12-06-07 1:23
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Loots, I know it’s unfair to compare two art forms.
However, if you are adapting a book or anything for that matter, you should
strive to make it better. Hoina ra? Besides, movies have so many advantages
over book, so I always expect more from it and in turn get disappointed.
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ratobhaley
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Posted on 12-06-07 1:59
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Using my observation skills I have narrowed down Captain Haddock's possible location to 3 places. 1. Guantanamo bay: Due to his bold statements he has angered the powers that be and he is being held in Guantanamo bay in isolation and a victim of waterboarding technique which is still deemed not to be torture. Has anyone tried to waterboard the politicians who deny that it is torture? Then perhaps the sun will shine in their pot bellies. If this is the case it will take him approximately 2.5 years to get back to sajha. We need to have an online donation portal and online petition to get him back. 2. Nepal: He's on an extended leave from work in the US and has embarked on a wife finding mission in Nepal. He has probably met with at least 5 girls, 2 of whom he ditched right away. He is unsure of one of them because she has a big mole on her cheek. Out of the other two, one is not his caste but he's got a huge crush on her but he's not ready to revolt with his grandmother because she's out of caste. He'll probably end up marrying the last one whose identity is classified. If this is the case, it will take him approximately 2 months to get back to sajha once he is married and done with the honeymoon period. His female admirers are holding their breath for his return. 3. McDonalds: He's lost his job and is now flipping burgers at MacDonalds. He loves interacting with people and he loves the relaxed atmosphere of a mindless job. He argues that it's not as mindless as he had thought since there is a subtle art of flipping burgers. Flip flop till you can't stop he says. If this is the case he'll be back in sajha during christmas when the joint closes.
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