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Live and Become

Original title: Va, vis et deviens
  • 20052005
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 2h 20m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Va, vis et deviens (2005)
  • Drama
A Christian boy escapes to Israel from famine-stricken Ethiopia by pretending to be Jewish.A Christian boy escapes to Israel from famine-stricken Ethiopia by pretending to be Jewish.A Christian boy escapes to Israel from famine-stricken Ethiopia by pretending to be Jewish.
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Radu Mihaileanu
  • Writers
    • Alain-Michel Blanc(collaborator on screenplay)
    • Radu Mihaileanu
  • Stars
    • Yaël Abecassis
    • Roschdy Zem
    • Moshe Agazai
Top credits
  • Director
    • Radu Mihaileanu
  • Writers
    • Alain-Michel Blanc(collaborator on screenplay)
    • Radu Mihaileanu
  • Stars
    • Yaël Abecassis
    • Roschdy Zem
    • Moshe Agazai
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 40User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 12 wins & 7 nominations

    Photos

    Va, vis et deviens (2005)
    Va, vis et deviens (2005)
    Va, vis et deviens (2005)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Yaël Abecassis
    Yaël Abecassis
    • Yaelas Yael
    Roschdy Zem
    Roschdy Zem
    • Yoramas Yoram
    Moshe Agazai
    • Schlomo enfantas Schlomo enfant
    Moshe Abebe
    • Schlomo adolescentas Schlomo adolescent
    Sirak M. Sabahat
    • Schlomo adulteas Schlomo adulte
    Yitzhak Edgar
    • Le Qès Amaraas Le Qès Amara
    Roni Hadar
    Roni Hadar
    • Saraas Sara
    Rami Danon
    Rami Danon
    • Papyas Papy
    Mimi Abonesh Kebede
    • Hana - la mère Juive Ethiopienneas Hana - la mère Juive Ethiopienne
    Meskie Shibru
    Meskie Shibru
    • La mère de Schlomoas La mère de Schlomo
    • (as Meskie Shibru Sivan)
    Raymonde Abecassis
    Raymonde Abecassis
    • Suzyas Suzy
    Yosi Alfi
    • Rabbin Talmud Toraas Rabbin Talmud Tora
    • (as Yossi Alfi)
    Shmil Ben Ari
    Shmil Ben Ari
    • Directeur internatas Directeur internat
    • (as Shmil Ben-Ari)
    Shlomo Vishinsky
    Shlomo Vishinsky
    • Le policieras Le policier
    Shai Fredo
    Shai Fredo
    • Le traducteuras Le traducteur
    Joy Rieger
    Joy Rieger
    • Tali enfantas Tali enfant
    Elias Nazich
    • Dany enfantas Dany enfant
    Talia de Vries
    • Tali adolescenteas Tali adolescente
    • Director
      • Radu Mihaileanu
    • Writers
      • Alain-Michel Blanc(collaborator on screenplay)
      • Radu Mihaileanu
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    In 1980 the black Falashas in Ethiopia are recognised as genuine Jews. In turn they are secretly carried to Israel. The day before the transport the son of a Jewish mother dies. In his place and with his name (Schlomo) she takes a Christian 9-year-old boy. Upon arrival this second mother dies. Schlomo is adopted by a good family but remains depressed until he secretly sends a letter to his real mother. From the beginning he experiences large and small racist difficulties. In his teens he and Sarah fall in love. Her father is an extreme racist. Schlomo tries to gain "real Jewishness" by winning a competition in Bible interpretation. No change of Sarah's father's attitude. Disappointed he goes to the police and reports himself as not being a Jew. But the police officer just gives him a scolding. "The newspapers are full of that stuff, the Falashas are no Jews. Now they begin to believe it themselves." His adoptive parents send him to France to study medicine. When he afterwards marries Sarah she loses her family and her status as a "white Jew". But he dares not tell her the truth until she becomes pregnant. She leaves him, but only because he had not trusted that she would love him as much anyway. His adoptive mother reconciles them. Sarah's first line when she returns: "Unbelievable what three mothers would do for you." But she makes a condition for returning: Schlomo must meet his real mother again. As a doctor he takes a job in the Ethiopian fugitive camp where she is still alive. —Max Scharnberg, Stockholm, Sweden
    • timeframe 1980s
    • timeframe 1990s
    • jew
    • love
    • israel
    • 102 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Unrated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
    • Quotes

      Narrateur: They had been forgotten on their mountaintops, near Gondar. Yet, since the dawn of time, the Ethiopian Jews, known as the "Falashas", dreamed of returning to their homeland, the Holy Land, Jerusalem. With Israeli and U.S. Aid, a vast program was undertaken from November to January 1985 to transport the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The Falashas were returned and finally recognized as descendants of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The Israeli secret service carried out the operation on the sly, keeping it from the Mengitsu pro-Soviet regime who had prohibited their emigration. The Falashas walked from Ethiopia to Sudan, a Muslim country under Charia law. There, they had to hide their Jewish identity under pain of death In Sudan, planes awaited to take them to Israel. On the road, hundreds died of sickness, famine, exhaustion. Others were killed by bandits. In the 1980s, the Sudanese camps welcomed thousands of Africans from 26 countries who were prey to famine: Christians, Muslims, and clandestine Jews. The first secret airlift operation, known as "Operation Moses", saved 8,000 Ethiopian Jews. 4,000 died on the road between Ethiopia and Sudan, murdered, tortured or suffering from famine, thirst and exhaustion. Many children reached the Holy Land alone or as orphans.

    User reviews40

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Many films are to be seen, but few to be chewed and digested.
    I am an old man and an inveterate cinema-goer since my early youth. I admit that I have been and still am perhaps rather too demanding where films are concerned because, to be honest, out of the innumerable films I have enjoyed throughout the long years of my life, the ones that really succeeded in stunning me as masterpieces which nailed me to my seat from the start of the projection to its very end can be counted on the fingers of one hand. But "Va,vis et deviens" is most certainly one of them in all respects. It aims directly at what is noble in us, and it does so in simple and understandable terms. Pity that the word "excellent" is used so frequently these days, for I now feel the need of yet a stronger adjective to qualify this film.
    helpful•12
    2
    • ew4037
    • Sep 26, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1, 2008 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Israel
      • Belgium
      • Italy
    • Languages
      • Hebrew
      • French
      • Amharic
    • Also known as
      • Go, See, and Become
    • Filming locations
      • Ethiopia
    • Production companies
      • Elzévir Films
      • Oï Oï Oï Productions
      • Cattleya
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,691,534
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 20 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

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    The Concert | Film review
    Jul 17The Guardian - Film News

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