Live and Become Movie Review:


Director-cowriter Mihaileanu has crafted a remarkable epic, keeping the perspective intensely intimate while telling a big story and documenting a hidden aspect of world history. It's so good that it could have been even stronger if the final third wasn't so rushed.

In 1984 Sudan, refugees await their fate. Israel is secretly airlifting the Ethiopian Jews (descended from Solomon and the Queen of Sheeba), and a desperate Christian mother encourages her young son (Agazai) to feign Jewishness to escape, telling him to "go, see and become". His odyssey in Israel is astonishing--renamed Schlomo, adopted by a liberal French-Israeli couple (Abecassis and Zem) and tutored by an African rabbi (Edgar), he grows into a complex teen (Abebe) and then a man (Sagahat) who understands the weight of his opportunities and secrets.

This is an astonishing story, set against a little-reported exodus. But Mihaileanu recounts the events vividly and clearly, spinning his fictional narrative to examine the issues--deeply probing concepts of identity, religion and family, as well as responsibility and fate. It's a powerful bundle of themes, but these weighty issues never overwhelm us because we're simply watching one boy's story. And it's so compelling that it engulfs us completely.

In fact, when the film's final act hurries through Schlomo's young adult life, we want it to return to the previous unhurried pace--getting deep into the characters and letting us feel what's happening. We wouldn't mind sitting there for another hour! Not only is Mihaileanu's storytelling strongly engaging, but the film is technically beautiful, with both epic African landscapes and realistic Israeli settings that avoid every cliché while making sure to ground the period in historical events.

The cast create complicated, shaded characters we can readily identify with. The three actors who play Schlomo are all superb; Zem and especially Abecassis speak volumes even when not saying a thing. The surge of varied emotions they all experience is incredibly powerful, even though the film completely avoids sentimentality. This is complex, lively, raw, gripping filmmaking. And utterly essential.



Rich Cline

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