Movie Review of Live and Become Directed by Radu Mihalaileanu

Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage

LIVE AND BECOME Movie Review

Directed by: Radu Mihalaileanu
Running time: 140 minutes
Genre: Drama, Art/Foreign (Hebrew, Amharic and French with English subtitles)
Distributor: Menemsha Films

This is a powerful coming of age story intricately and passionately filmed about an Ethiopian Christian boy who disguises himself as an Ethiopian Jew in order to escape famine and emigrates to Israel.

The film tells of Shlomo (Solomon), an Ethiopian boy placed by his mother (Meskie Shibru-Sivan Hadar) with an Ethiopian woman Hana (Raymonde Abecassis) whose child has died. This woman, who will become his adoptive mother, is about to be airlifted with other Ethiopian Jews from the Sudanese refugee camp to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984. His birth mother hopes for a better life for her son.

The plot centers on Shlomo's growing up in Israel and then his plight of being adopted legally by a white left-wing Jewish family of French origins after Hana's death. The movie focuses on how he deals with the secrets he carries- not being Jewish and having left his birth mother in the Sudan.

Shlomo is played by three different brilliant actors. As a child (Moshe Agazai) he deals with bigotry in school from some of the community and problems adjusting to his new adopted family, the Harrari's. Yael Harrari (Yael Abecassis) his newly adopted mother shows him the love he desperately needs. As a teenager (Moshe Abebe) contends with conforming to the Hebrew religion and finds out he can write to his real mother in the Sudan secretly without anyone knowing. This gives him some relief. But he still must contend with the fact that some people find him and other Ethiopian Jews outcasts. Meanwhile, unrest and protesting by Ethiopian Jews of their treatment is becoming a problem in Israel. When he becomes an adult, (Sirak M. Sabahat) he decides he will become a doctor and help, rather than fight in the Israeli Army. This is against his adopted father Yoram's (Roschdy Zem) wishes, but his adopted mother Yael gives her consent.

During his childhood and adult life he finds a love interest, Sara, (Roni Hadar) whose family consists of people reluctant to accept Ethiopian Jews. Shlomo and Sara marry and he decides to come out with the truth about himself - that he is an impostor. Or is he really? He still must return to the Sudan to find his real mother who told him as a child "to go, live and become".

The entire cast of actors are superb in their performances. I don't understand why this film has not been marketed as a major movie. I found this film to be one of the finest films I've ever seen. Every scene in this movie had me captivated. This is an epic story done with a magnificent style of filmmaking and purpose. It has won several international awards and is Academy Award material. This is a must see film.

FILM RATING (A)