“Live and Become,” based on the exodus of Ethiopian Jews to Israel, is a powerful investigation of the struggles of cultural and personal identity. In 1985 Israel secretly launched Operation Moses, airlifting thousands of persecuted Ethiopian Jews (known as Falashas) from Sudan to Israel. A Falasha widow takes a Christian boy with her after her son dies. The boy, renamed Schlomo, is soon orphaned when his second ‘mother’ dies. A confused Schlomo (played at various ages by Moshe Agazai, Mosche Abebe, and Sirak M. Sabahat), guilt-ridden and angry at leaving his real mother behind, finds a stable home with an adoptive French-Israeli couple. Of course, Schlomo faces prejudice at school and the world at large as he struggles to learn the language and customs that are supposed to be a part of his heritage. His deception deepens when he falls in love with Sarah (Roni Hader), a white Jew and must contend with her racist father. Years later when they marry, Schlomo must reveal the truth behind his identity and find his place in the world if he is to fulfill his mother’s wish: Live and become.
“Live and Become,” an intimate look into a little known chapter in Israel’s history, also reveals the prejudices that exist among black and white Jews. It is both a love story and an inspirational tale of an individual’s search for peace within an unfamiliar and frightening environment. 7/24/08)
1 comment:
"Live an Become" was excellent an excellent movie. Your characterization of "Schlomo" was right on.
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