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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)
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    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
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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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
    Come, see and win
    I can only talk in superlatives about this movie. It's so powerful that it takes a second viewing to realize that in fact it's even more powerful... Yes, there is a history lesson in it (Falashas, Middle East, Cold War, Gulf War etc.), and yes, it's an interesting tale about a person whom you just have to think to be real, but more than that, it's so universal in its way of talking about our search for a secure identity... searching for it in a process at the end of which we hope to end up in some nice future at the same time not having forgotten that what was precious in our past. To arrive at that, so much help is needed from good people you can trust, or so much luck, if you want to say it that way... This film will make you realize that and in the process it will awaken in you an overwhelming feeling of respect for human dignity as well.

    To Radu Mihaileanu I can only say, continue to give us this good films, please. If it takes years of research as it did in this case, so be it. Oh, and I hope to see all of the actors, too, again some day. How stupid of me, I will, of course, at the third viewing of 'Va, vis et deviens'.
    helpful•9
    3
    • Weredegu
    • Feb 15, 2007

    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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    Jul 17The Guardian - Film News

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