I went to see this movie just today, not having planned to, but simply because I was too late to see what I originally wanted to, (Something Like Happiness). Friends had been pressuring me to see Live and Become for awhile, but I refused, thinking it seemed to focus too much on the political.
Well, am I glad I got to see this one. Nine-year old Shlomo leaves Ethiopia pretending to be a Jew, saved by "Operation Moses". He promises his Jewish 'mother', when she dies, never to tell of his real Christian mother, left behind, since non-Jews discovered by the Operation are sent back to Ethiopia. He eventually begins a life with the Harraris, an Isreali-French family, and the story goes well beyond the refugee life.
The story of Shlomo, an Ethiopian refugee escaping from awful circumstances, is not a new one. Movies about war refugees abound, but originality is irrelevant. I came in expecting weepy, overdone, politically motivated. I rolled my eyes when the boy's mother said "Go! Live and become!", and then cried the very moment Hana took his hand and claimed to be his mum.
This movie is slightly uneven in the sense that scenes with overwrought dialogue are scattered throughout it, but I never thought of it until afterward. I wept a bit, surprised by it every time, my cynical self not being accustomed to crying at the movies. There are also quite funny parts, for example when the rescued children first watch television, all of them sit behind it, waiting to see when the people inside will come out. I recommend this movie; strong performances, a wonderful story. The two and a half hours truly fly by.
Well, am I glad I got to see this one. Nine-year old Shlomo leaves Ethiopia pretending to be a Jew, saved by "Operation Moses". He promises his Jewish 'mother', when she dies, never to tell of his real Christian mother, left behind, since non-Jews discovered by the Operation are sent back to Ethiopia. He eventually begins a life with the Harraris, an Isreali-French family, and the story goes well beyond the refugee life.
The story of Shlomo, an Ethiopian refugee escaping from awful circumstances, is not a new one. Movies about war refugees abound, but originality is irrelevant. I came in expecting weepy, overdone, politically motivated. I rolled my eyes when the boy's mother said "Go! Live and become!", and then cried the very moment Hana took his hand and claimed to be his mum.
This movie is slightly uneven in the sense that scenes with overwrought dialogue are scattered throughout it, but I never thought of it until afterward. I wept a bit, surprised by it every time, my cynical self not being accustomed to crying at the movies. There are also quite funny parts, for example when the rescued children first watch television, all of them sit behind it, waiting to see when the people inside will come out. I recommend this movie; strong performances, a wonderful story. The two and a half hours truly fly by.