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Live and Become

Play trailer Poster for Live and Become 2005 2h 20m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 93% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
A Christian boy grows up among Jews in Israel and, as an adult, must confront his past.
Live and Become

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Critics Consensus

Mihaileanu's story of an Ethiopian orphan's struggles overcomes an inflated length and script problems to explore universal issues of racial and religious identity.

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Critics Reviews

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Robert Abele Los Angeles Times 06/27/2008
3.5/5
The bounty of incident is balanced by knowing humor, compelling characters and a dedicated compassion toward those for whom the search for home sends their head, heart and feet flying in all directions. Go to Full Review
Tom Keogh Seattle Times 03/28/2008
3/4
Don't be put off by the film's length. It's fascinating to see familiar history flash by as a backdrop to the equally compelling account of a life spent in pursuit of totality. Go to Full Review
Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly 03/12/2008
B-
With the secret 1985 airlift of thousands of Ethiopian Jewish refugees into Israel as a historical starting point, writer-director Radu Mihaileanu turns one fictional boy's story into a loaded, didactic drama about survival, adaptation, and identity. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/05/2011
B
The message of this stirring feature is relevant, going beyond its particular political context Go to Full Review
Nora Lee Mandel Film-Forward.com 12/17/2008
7/10
Sentimental on immigration and assimilation, but intriguingly reflects Israeli diversity, and touching for a guy to survive and flourish thanks to the love of 4 feisty women. Go to Full Review
Sarah Boslaugh Playback:stl 09/19/2008
6/10
If Live and Become told only the story of Schlomo's childhood and adolescence in Israel, it would have been a better movie. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Giorgio G Dec 18 Wow! Though this movie is 19 years old it is more actual than ever. It's deep, rough and cruel, but all too perfectly well showing the dilemma of refugees and there never-ending suffering. It touches one's heart, knowing that this year there are about 44 Million refugees worldwide, to a total of 123 million, when including the internally displaced. The hatred of one group of people towards another, simply because of their skin color, their origin, their believes, is causing most of this suffering. And it seems there won't be any improvement during our lifetime. This movie somehow gives a bit of hope, though being realistic, I doubt that humans will ever be able to live in peace. 8/10 points! See more Sal D @JustTheLaw 09/26/2023 Great story.....perfectly paced and directed. See more dave s 01/02/2022 In Live and Become, a Christian woman in Ethiopia arranges for her young son to by airlifted from the country and transported to Israel with a group of African Jews in order to provide him with the potential for better opportunities in life. The conditions? He must live his life as a Jew and never return to his country of birth. Filled with interesting characters and scenarios, it is a fascinating journey as the boy tries to come to terms with his identity over a period of about twenty-five years. It's a slowly paced and deliberate film, which makes the final thirty minutes or so a touch puzzling as the movie frantically tries to squeeze in his studies in Paris, his professional life, his courtship and marriage, etc… in a manner that upsets the established pace. Despite the pace issue (and the excessive running time), it's an entertaining and insightful story of acceptance and assimilation. See more 02/07/2016 Cultural confusion and the lack of true identity plague a young boy swept away from his mother during a joint American-Israeli rescue mission in director Radu Mihaileanu's fact-based drama. As thousands of displaced Africans crowd into Sudanese refugee camps, American and Israeli troops organize "Operation Moses," a mission aimed at relocating the wandering Falashas to Israel. See more 02/28/2015 This french movie is a hidden gem. It tells the story of an Ethiopian Christian boy, named Schlomo, who shows himself as a Jew during Operation Moses so that he can be taken to Israel for the opportunity to live a better life. Schlomo grows up as a Jew and is forced to hide his real identity as he faces the risk of being deported. The acting in the movie is excellent. It is a gripping, heartfelt story that will stay with you for a long time. I recommend it to everyone; a definite masterpiece! See more 10/18/2014 go, live and become! out of breath. See more Read all reviews
Live and Become

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Movie Info

Synopsis A Christian boy grows up among Jews in Israel and, as an adult, must confront his past.
Director
Radu Mihaileanu
Producer
Denis Carot, Marie Masmonteil, Radu Mihaileanu, Marek Rozenbaum
Screenwriter
Radu Mihaileanu, Alain-Michel Blanc
Production Co
Cattleya, Medusa Film
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 26, 2020
Runtime
2h 20m