Radu Mihăileanu’s 2005 film Live and Become (originally titled Va, vis et deviens) isn't exactly a casual Friday night watch. It’s heavy. Honestly, it’s the kind of movie that sticks to your ribs for weeks after the credits roll. It tells the story of a young Ethiopian boy, a Christian, who is pushed by his mother to pretend to be Jewish so he can escape famine and certain death during "Operation Moses" in 1984.
The premise alone is a gut punch.
"Go, live, and become," his mother whispers as she shoves him toward a transport bus. She knows she might never see him again. It's a lie that saves his life but fractures his soul. The boy, renamed Schlomo, ends up in Israel, adopted by a loving, liberal French-Sephardic family in Tel Aviv. But he’s living a double life. He's a Christian pretending to be a Jew, an Ethiopian trying to navigate a white-majority society, and an orphan with a living mother he can't contact.
Why Live and Become Still Matters Decades Later
Movies about the immigrant experience usually fall into two categories: the "struggle porn" variety or the overly sanitized success story. Live and Become refuses to be either. It’s sprawling. It spans decades. We see Schlomo grow from a terrified child into a man grappling with his identity during some of the most turbulent years in Israeli history.
What makes this film so visceral is how it handles the concept of "belonging." Schlomo is constantly performing. He’s performing Jewishness to satisfy the religious authorities. He’s performing "Israeliness" to fit in with his peers. All the while, he’s secretly yearning for a mother and a culture he was forced to abandon.
It’s a masterclass in nuance.
The film doesn't shy away from the racism within Israel at the time. You see the protests, the skepticism of the rabbinate regarding the "Jewishness" of the Ethiopian Beta Israel community, and the casual prejudices of neighbors. Yet, it also shows the genuine warmth of his adoptive parents, Yael and Hara, who fight for him like he’s their own blood.
The Historical Backbone: Operation Moses
To really get Live and Become, you have to understand the history. Operation Moses was a covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan during a massive famine. Between November 1984 and January 1985, roughly 8,000 people were airlifted to Israel.
It was a logistical miracle, but a human tragedy.
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Thousands died in the camps in Sudan or during the trek from Ethiopia. Families were ripped apart. In the movie, Schlomo isn't even Jewish—his mother just wants him to survive. This adds a layer of "imposter syndrome" that is almost unbearable to watch. He is literally a "fake" among a group of people whose very identity is being questioned by the state.
The Three Deaths of Schlomo
The narrative structure of Live and Become is almost operatic. It’s divided into his childhood, his adolescence, and his early adulthood.
As a kid, he’s basically catatonic. He won't eat. He won't speak. He spends his nights looking at the moon, convinced his mother is looking at it too. There’s this heartbreaking scene where he tries to walk back to Ethiopia because he thinks it’s just over the next hill. It's a reminder that for a child, "survival" is a meaningless concept if it doesn't include their mother.
Then comes the teen years. This is where the movie gets spicy.
He falls in love with a girl whose father is a blatant racist. He excels in school but feels like a fraud every time he steps into a synagogue. He's a Black man in a society that is still figuring out how to deal with its own diversity. He starts writing letters to his mother—letters he can never mail. He hides them under his mattress. They are his only link to the truth of who he is.
Finally, we see him as a young doctor.
He goes to France to study, hoping to escape the pressure cooker of Israel. But the lie follows him. It’s like a shadow. You can’t outrun your origin story, no matter how many degrees you get or how well you speak the language.
Cinematic Style and Mihăileanu’s Vision
Radu Mihăileanu, the director, has a background that informs this whole piece. He’s a Jewish man who fled communist Romania. He knows what it’s like to leave a home and try to reinvent yourself in a foreign land. You can feel that empathy in every frame.
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The cinematography shifts as Schlomo grows.
The early scenes in the camps are desaturated, dusty, and claustrophobic. When he gets to Tel Aviv, the palette opens up. It’s bright, blue, and chaotic. But there's always a sense of distance. Mihăileanu often uses wide shots that make Schlomo look small against the backdrop of history.
One thing that might bug modern viewers is the length. It’s nearly two and a half hours long. Honestly, it needs to be. You can’t rush a transformation this deep. You have to sit with him in his silence.
The Religious Tension
The film spends a lot of time on the "Who is a Jew?" debate.
In Israel, this isn't just a theological question; it's a legal and social one. Schlomo has to study the Torah, pass exams, and essentially prove his worthiness to exist in the country. There's a scene where he enters a Bible quiz competition and dominates it. It’s ironic, right? The "fake" Jew knows the scripture better than the "real" ones.
It highlights the absurdity of trying to quantify faith or heritage through tests.
Common Misconceptions About the Movie
A lot of people think Live and Become is a documentary. It’s not. It’s a fictional drama, though it’s heavily researched and based on the very real experiences of the Ethiopian community.
Another mistake? Assuming it’s an "anti-Israel" or "pro-Israel" film.
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It’s neither. It’s a human film. It critiques the systemic racism of the era while celebrating the individuals who broke those systems down. It shows an Israel that is both a refuge and a cage. If you’re looking for a simple political message, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s way more complicated than that.
Why You Should Watch It Today
We are living in a time of massive global migration. Whether it’s refugees from Syria, Ukraine, or South America, the "Schlomo story" is happening every single day.
Live and Become asks the questions we’re still struggling to answer:
- How much of yourself do you have to kill to survive in a new place?
- Can you ever truly belong if your foundation is built on a secret?
- Is a mother's love enough to justify a lifetime of trauma?
The acting is incredible. Sirak M. Sabahat, who plays the adult Schlomo, brings a quiet, simmering intensity to the role. He doesn't need to shout to show you he's breaking inside.
Essential Takeaways for Film Buffs
If you’re planning to track this down—and you should—keep a few things in mind. First, find a version with good subtitles. The movie jumps between Hebrew, Amharic, and French. The linguistic shifts are part of the storytelling; they show how Schlomo is constantly recalibrating his brain.
Secondly, don't expect a neat happy ending.
The ending is... complicated. It’s beautiful and tragic and messy all at once. Just like real life.
Actionable Steps to Deepen Your Experience
- Watch it with context. Before hitting play, spend ten minutes reading about the Beta Israel community and the history of the Kingdom of Aksum. It makes the religious connection much clearer.
- Pair it with Train of Life. That’s another Mihăileanu film. It deals with the Holocaust through a lens of dark comedy and fable. Watching both gives you a real sense of his range and his obsession with the "lie as survival" theme.
- Look for the symbolism of water. Notice how water appears throughout the film—from the red sea to the rain in Tel Aviv. It’s a recurring motif for rebirth and cleansing that Schlomo is constantly seeking but rarely finds.
- Discuss the "Secret" aspect. If you watch this with friends, talk about whether his mother made the right choice. It’s the ultimate ethical dilemma. Was the trauma of the lie worth the life he got to lead?
Live and Become isn't a movie you just watch; it's one you survive. It’s a sprawling, heart-wrenching, and ultimately hopeful look at what it means to be a human being in a world that demands you pick a side, a race, and a religion. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on one of the most powerful cinematic experiences of the 21st century.