Kite Runner's Khalid Abdallah

The Kite Runner tells the story of Afghanistan refugees who find a new home in America after fleeing the 1980s Russian invasion. Although the drama switches from San Francisco to Kabul the latter’s locations, other than establishing shots, were lensed in China. The proximity of mountainous terrain hovering over cityscapes gives Kite Runner a sense of spacious freedom. It’s a kind of feeling most of the characters never achieve.
“We shot in China, in the land of the Mongols and Genghis Khan,” Khalid Abdallah, star of Kite Runner tells Free Press Houston in a phone interview. Abdallah, some may remember, played one of the hijackers in United 93. With an Egyptian heritage but born in Scotland, Abdallah attended Cambridge, then studied acting and found himself “in Kabul with about six days notice.
“There are something like 46 languages spoken in Afghanistan,” reminded Abdallah who learned to speak in the Farsi dialect of Dari for Kite Runner. His character Amir is the adult of the character we see as a child in the first part of the film.
The Kite Runner explores differences in culture, first as seen by citizens of Afghanistan divided by political and religious dictates. Then the tables are turned and we watch the grown-up Amir try to assimilate into American society even while maintaining a grasp to his once upper class past. The title refers to a contest of flying kites where one directs the kite to dive into the path of another kite thus severing its string. It’s a two-person team; one guides the kite while the runner retrieves the kite when the string gets nipped.
The young Amir watches while a grave injustice befalls his schoolmate yet class barriers prevent his actually trying to help. Years later the adult Amir faces his demons, swallows his guilt and returns surreptitiously to Afghanistan to smuggle the son of his childhood friend out of the country. Here the film, directed by Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, the upcoming Bond film) takes a detour into action territory complete with a mano a mano between Amir and the Taliban.
“Amir finally decides he has to face the consequences of his previous action,” Abdullah said about his character’s motivation. “For Amir it’s about the moment where you stand up for an ideal.”