User Reviews

PLOT: It's a heart breaking story of a father and his wife looking for their son in the mountains of Afghanistan!

My Comment: I was so proud indeed when I heard that "Tora Bora" a kuwaiti movie will be participating at Cannes film Festival 2011, I think that's a big step for us and for the movie industry in Kuwait! Now people can stop complaining that our shows, I know you can't compare but this will give you something to think about and reconsider things..

Actually, "Tora Bora" it is the movie that has a different touch to it, even the shooting of the movie is different and not like what we usually see here, It's an emotional story about a father and his wife trying to find their son in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Starring: Saad Al-Faraj as the Father Asmahan Tawfeeq as the Mother Khaled Ameen as the Son

also starring: Al-Araby Al-Sassy, Yasine Ahjam, Kais Nashef, Abdullah Al-Zeid, Habeeb Hamdan, Abdulatif Shakra, Faisal Al-Ameery, Mubarak Sultan, Abdullah Al-Barouny, Mohammed Motawakil & Abdullah Al-Tararwah

Directed by: Walid Al-Awadi Genre: Drama Website: http://www.torabora.TV Kuwait - 2011

"Tora Bora" draws a painful portrait of an elderly Kuwaiti couple, Abou Tareq and Om Tareq, forced to ensure a dangerous adventure in Afghanistan in order to look for their younger son, Ahmad. He has been brainwashed by the Taliban and decided to join a camp in Tora Bora. Ahmad, who has been praised for his leadership skills, is about to be given a suicide mission. At the same time, his older brother Tarek, is trying to save the members of his family by seeking the support of the Pakistani intelligence services. In this vicious circle of uncertainties, every new day looms as a threat.

The film, which previously screened in Cannes, opened the 2012 edition of the Gulf Film Festival in Dubai. Its quality and strength marks a new wave of cinema coming from the Gulf countries. Previously a subject matter usually tackled by Hollywood studios, "Tora Bora" takes a vivid approach to the subject matter by narrating the troubles of those people directly affected by war-torn Afghanistan.

Shot in a documentary style and mostly filmed in Morocco, the wonderful acting of the cast is a highlight. We can't but be attached to this old couple, hiding in mountains, enduring beatings and sometimes tortured during the grueling search for their son. The film develops certain characters like Nazih, the guide who takes them to Tora Bora and then leaves. We are left guessing his fate, and also wondering about the tapes of the Palestinian journalist living in a UN camp.

"Tora Bora" presents a heart-wrenching portrayal of parenthood and the cruelty of the war in Afghanistan. As Abou Tariq says wearily, after witnessing the horrors of the Taliban regime, "I don't understand how a Muslim kills a Muslim for no reason."

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