Harry T. Yung Despite being inspired by the 1975 Lebanese Civil War, "The Insult" has more universality than you might first expect. Despite the location of the story (and actual filming) being in Beirut, it could have happened in any city populated by two people (or more) of different origins and background. When two of these individuals anywhere else in the world happen to have a run-in as with our two protagonists, a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee, a similar story may well develop.The story is present-time but the protagonists carry with them the heavy burden of history. Tony Hanna (Adel Karam) is a well educated Lebanese Christian doing well as an automobile repair garage owner in Beirut. A bundle of joy will soon be bestowed to the family as a baby girl with approaching due day. Yasser Salameh (Kamel El Basha), although by status a Palestinian refugee, is not doing badly at all, employed as a well-respected foreman of a construction company. The technical legality of the employment may be a tad shady but does not seem to bother anybody. He is also happily married.The run-in between these two very proud men is trivial. The plotline can simply be sum up as escalation of insult heaped on insult culminating in a court case. Tony the plaintiff is represented by seasoned lawyer Wajdi Wehbe (Camille Salameh), and Yasser the defendant by brilliant young attorney Nadine Wehbe (Diamond Bou Abboud) who happens to be Wajdi's daughter.I am not going into the details of the plot as the film is best enjoyed when left alone to unfold by itself. The things to watch for are expected. On the macro scale, it is the abovementioned segment of recent history and how the effect lingers to the present day on the populace. On the micro side you see how human nature is affected by childhood trauma, feelings of being a victim, pride (not necessarily a good word), incontrollable anger. But then there is also level-headed common sense as well as human decency and goodwill.Acting is uniformly solid, from not just the four key characters mention, but also a rather big supporting cast. An Oscar nomination that is good enough to win.In closing, I must mention how I enjoy the closure, not in the courtroom but outside, known only to the two men themselves. This is a brilliant touch of self-administered poetic justice. SPOILER: one deliberately provokes the other to get even with the earlier violence BEFORE delivering an apology which would have avoided the court case in the first place.

westsideschl Even the smallest of incidents carry unseen baggage. Antagonists: A Christian and a Palestinian refugee in Beirut, Lebanon and a trivial event between them escalates into insults and more as they personify historical events that reach far beyond their own lives. And, how interchangeable the positions of religions are at interpreting the same events. The film suggests that no one has a monopoly on suffering, but I disagree i.e. looking at Palestinians & Israelis the number of killed on both sides since 2000 (10,000 vs. 1200), and since the 1950s looking at maps showing the "acquisition" of Palestinian land by Israel. Analogous to American Native peoples forcibly moving all non-Native Americans onto one of our smaller states.

asc85 I was expecting a lot more of a film that was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and I'm surprised that as of this writing (about 20 reviews), only one IMDb review was negative. I'm sure a film like this in Lebanon is groundbreaking, but researching this film on IMDb, it looks like it didn't even win any awards in the Lebanese version of the Oscars, although nominated. I don't know exactly what is allowed in a Lebanese courtroom, but it seemed there was a lot of unrelated issues being litigated, which didn't seem very believable. The film was just too heavy-handed and melodramatic for me.The one positive thing I'll say about this movie is Rita Hayek, who has the possibility of being a real breakout star in international cinema if that's something she wants. She can act, and is gorgeous.

gizmomogwai The poster for The Insult, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, doesn't quite do the product justice. It makes the film look like a simple tragic drama; in fact The Insult builds on its intriguing premise of a simple insult escalating, and balances feelings of remorse, tensions and even comedy and absurdity in a brisk tone and style. A film where the prosecutor and defense are father and daughter, and the shock reveal, is a film that isn't totally taking itself seriously. But it reflects on very serious wounds in the past and the lack of reconciliation after, a followup to a tragic story previously depicted in an earlier Oscar nominee Incendies. But Incendies was Canadian and The Insult is actually Lebanese, the first Lebanese film to be nominated, and it speaks in a national voice.With only some minor violence, The Insult's story largely escalates in the courtroom, and anyone interested in courtroom films will find this great material. I had to stop myself from saying "courtroom drama," because again, it's not only that. The absurdities provoke laughs, the drama provokes thought, and The Insult has something for everybody, even people who know little about Lebanon (The film itself explains much of the gaps in knowledge for the viewer).