The Insult (2017)

I imagine "The Insult" will inspire strong feelings among certain viewers who have a close connection to the topic, and especially those from parts of the world that feel strongly one way or another about the Palestinian conflict. Most of the rest of us will probably learn a little something about the cultural and religious conflict between Lebanese Christians and Palestinians, something Americans (where I'm from) certainly don't ever learn much about unless we actively seek it out.

I very much enjoyed "The Insult" and I appreciated its attempts to be objective about a topic that most people who are directly affected by it can't be. People don't generally like to hear that there is often not a right or wrong side to a given issue but rather a vast middle area of gray, especially not in our current world climate where there's a "with us or against us" mentality about most things. But while I appreciated the film's approach, I couldn't help but feel it had a little bit of an after school special quality about it, a kind of preachy "can't we all just get along" tone that I don't necessarily disagree with but which feels a bit naive and facile in our extremely complicated times.

A worthy effort and one that has a lot to recommend it. It just didn't hit it out of the ball park.

Grade: A-

Fmovies: THE INSULT- 90% I was quite annoyed as i wanted to be the first Lebanese filmmaker to have an Oscar nomination but this movie is very well deserved for its nomination. The story and the way it was structured was absolutely perfect. The main two actors were very impressive which balanced other weaker actors. The cinematography is basic but effective. Adel Karam is quite the actor. The conflict in the story is very intriguing and Raw. I am so glad that a Lebanese movie was finally showcased in the world and I only dream of more to come. The history of Lebanon is so diverse and emotional that I am surprised that there aren't at least 40 movies related to all the conflicts lebanon had to withstand. The character development was shown in simple glimpses of certain situations. I was also happy that the director Ziad was not biased towards a certain character but was enriching and compassionate with both of them. The message in this movie is what was so astounding: "Despite out experience, ego, and pride, we are all in this together." A must see. Story wise and execution: 35/35 Acting: 21.6/25 Camera Work: 16.8/20 Sound: 16.1/20

The movie is set in Lebanon, and based on real Lebanese problems. However, the setting could be in another country, another time, with two other groups that hate each other. It is about the universal problem of wrath and resentment boiling over. The movie is well done, with some unnecessary dramatic flourishes - the story is dramatic enough in itself and didn't need these additional items (Don't wish to say what exactly in order not to have any spoilers). In any case it deserves its Oscar nomination.

The Insult fmovies. The original Lebanese title, "Case No. 23," plays to the domestic audience because it emphasizes the courtroom drama. That's the personal story. The English translation works better for the international audience. The broader reference suggests the film's application to the whole of the warring Middle East. That society is so obsessed with honour that it is paralyzed by any "Insult," real or perceived. The Palestinians' shame at the Naqba, their failure to have prevented the creation of Israel, still prevents their negotiation of a peaceful coexistence. Israel hovers at the margin here, cited as the Arabs' common demon. Ariel Sharon is a curse. The Palestinians' ultimate insult is to declare the Christian Arab a Zionist - or at least, an enabler of Israel. The film's central insults are exchanged by a Christian Arab mechanic, Tony, and a Palestinian refugee, construction foreman Yasser. Their war starts small enough: Tony has an illegal pipe, which soaks Yasser. After insulting Tony Yasser repairs the pipe, which Tony smashes. Both heroes find our understanding. The Palestinian may be given the greater sympathy and he's played as a more thoughtful, flexible figure. But the revelation of the Christian Tony's past enhances his character too. Both men prove victims of their respective people's history. For both, their history tempts them to blame all their own failure son that unfortunate history and their old enemy. The two trial scenes are superb drama. In each the magistrate conducts an intensive, searching examination of the case. The first bogs down when neither the plaintiff nor the accused stoops to repeat the insult that prompted Yasser's attack. The second trial reaches the same conclusion but with more satisfactory effect. Indeed, the losing side now seems as satisfied with the verdict as the winner. That's because Tony has had his story told too, his anger and indignation explained in context. In the lawyers' summary, each makes the other's case. The antagonism turns into understanding. Apart from the trials, the principals' true reconciliation happens in two scenes outside the court, before the verdict. In the first Tony casually helps his enemy restart his car. In the second, Yasser baits Tony into punching him, so he goes into the court with his own aching pair of ribs. An eye for an eye, a rib for a rib. At the end, after all the screaming, indignation and violence, the reconciliation is the men's silent, long-distance lock of the eyes. Both heroes - and their respective gangs of followers - carry the weight of history. Both have suffered violence, prejudice, victimization, which their self-respect challenges them to remember. Both men suffer increasing and increasingly harsh consequences for their intransigence. The film's message is the need to acknowledge the historic conflict, to recognize the long period of inhumane abuse, but to turn the page, to move on, to find a way to make a mutually respectful peace. Again, the implication is that this message extends beyond the film's conflict between Palestinian and Christian to include the Jewish state as well. There's an additional frisson when Yasser's lawyer is revealed to be Tony's more famous lawyer's daughter. This generational tension replays the theme of moving on from the past. Both the woman lawyer and the woman chief judge tacitly personify the new Middle East, the emergence of empowered womanhood in that archly patriarchal society.

Greetings again from the darkness. When a film opens with a statement that 'the views expressed are those of the authors and director, and not of the government of Lebanon', one quickly understands the difference in artistic freedom in that country versus what occurs in the United States, where cartoons and memes regularly poke fun at this country's President. Director Ziad Doueri and his co-writer Joelle Touma present an intense story of human nature that might happen anywhere, but since the leads are a Lebanese Christian and a Palestine refugee, that opening statement is warranted.

One morning, a seemingly innocuous exchange between Tony (Adel Karam) and Yasser (Kamel El-Basha) takes place. While watering flowers on his balcony, the overflow sprays Yasser on the street below. Yasser, a city contractor, orders his team to fix the drainage issue, and Tony reacts violently - leading to Yasser delivering the titular insult. From there, all heck breaks loose. Apologies are requested and never delivered. Appeals to rational reconsideration are made. Tony's pregnant wife (an excellent Rita Hayek) pleads with him to let it go. Yasser's boss threatens him with termination. Still, two stubborn and prideful men refuse to give in.

The subsequent courtroom drama feature other side stories, not the least of which is the relationship between the two opposing attorneys (Diamond Bou Abboud and Camile Salaheh), one a rising legal star and the other a veteran attempting to make up for a past failure. Emotions run high as two too-proud men turn what was little more than a playground standoff into a national incident being fought in the legal system and the media. Tony is a hot-head who somehow thinks an apology from Yasser is actually an apology for how Palestinians "messed up this country". Yasser's stoic nature barely shrouds his bitterness at the world since the Lebanon Civil War. History and childhood roots play a role, but mostly it's human nature that is at the core of this escalation.

Though the title is not plural, there are multiple insults slung throughout the film, each reminding us of the power of words and the futility of the "sticks and stones" phrase. Our own prejudices and preconceptions alter our views and reactions, often preventing us from standing in the other fellow's shoes. Again, this situation could have played out in most any neighborhood on the globe, but this particular locale shows various ethnic and religious groups are still grappling with what it means to live together - despite the years of wars and unrest. We don't see a great deal of Middle Eastern cinema, but three days after I watched this film, it became the first ever movie from Lebanon to receive an Oscar nomination (Best Foreign Language Film) ... proving yet again that the language of cinema is universal.

A superbly constructed and written, excellently directed and wonderfully acted film. It is specifically about Lebanon, but the kind of conflict it depicts, and the attitudes taken up by the antagonists, could and do flare up anywhere. The film is even-handed in depicting the factions. Everyone has their reasons, their justifications, their excuses. The full gamut of society, from President to car mechanic, is involved, implicated, complicated. Certainly one of the best movies I've seen this year.