Live and Become Review

An epic film on tough issues.

It's 1985 and Ethiopian Jews, known as Falasha, are secretly airlifted from their famine and war torn country into Israel. A young Christian boy, Schlomo (Mosche Agazai), is given a chance of survival when his mother arranges for him to assume the identity of a Falash woman's dead son. Placed with a liberal Israeli family his secret becomes burdensome. How long can he keep denying who he is? And when will he be reunited with his mother?

highlights a much neglected piece of history

Live and Become highlights a much neglected piece of history that raises the issues of racisms and identity. Three actors play the character of Schlomo as we follow his journey into manhood. The youngest of these is Mosche Agazai, whose performance was most tender and vulnerable. Radu Mihileanu has created an epic film that is technically brilliant, but at times can feel overwhelmed by the many issues he is trying to cover. But this is essentially the story of a boy displaced by poverty, and for that alone it is a well worth watching.