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.

"L'insulte" or "The Insult" is a Libanese 110-minute movie that premiered back in 2017 already. Writer and director is Ziad Doueiri (his close connection with Tarantino surprised me and was not visible in this film in my opinion) and this is without a doubt his biggest success so far as the film did not only reach a great deal of awards recognition, but even made it to the Oscars, a bit surprisingly for sure as it got in over the Golden-Globe winning entry from my country Germany. I think the Academy just really liked the subject. It's Israel vs. Palestine again and actually this controversial subject has become a bit forgotten, maybe because how long it has been going on, maybe also because other crisis areas haven take over from this conflict. This is basically about the conflict of two men and how a relatively harmless argument results in hate speech between them, violence and eventually a courtroom trial. They somewhat symbolize their origins and the conflict between these two areas there you could say. One problem I had with the film is that it felt like it really needed quite a while to get going and become interesting. Early on when it was unclear who the protagonists are and what it is all about, I found it really slow and not too captivating. But it gets better the moment of the attack that it is all about luckily. And from that moment on it becomes a decent courtroom drama, which may honestly not be considerably above stuff like L&O tension and plot-wise, Boston Legal etc., but the subject elevates the material you could say. There are other weaknesses too I must say. The older lawyer was clearly intended way more significant than he turned out to be. I also did not like the way he went over the top. But the script did not do him any favors in my opinion either. The rushed-in father-daughter conflict felt very uninspired and certainly not elaborated on properly. His big scene when he speaks about the violence that his client's family had to face in the place where he was born was also not half as effective as it could have been and it was literally destroyed before already with the cringeworthy scene where you would ask yourself why this lawyer is so harsh on his own man. So yeah, there are definitely major issues with the courtroom scene and it could have been a far better frilm from that perspective. In fact, the first rather brief courtroom negotiation I did like more and it was a solid introduction to the legal aspect of this movie. Instead, the film lived more off the scenes between the two main characters, especially in the second half of the film, when they are about to search for a compromise or when they talk to each other and the apology is finally issued and even his dignity is somewhat restored with the other character provoking him into hitting him, so they are equal. Actually the guy who got hit first, seemed like a brute early on and the depth he gets as the film moves on (still less depth than the other guy obviously) felt a bit surprising in my opinion. Overall, a solid film, needs a little while to catch your interest, but if you stay calm and patient, then it becomes a rewarding watch. No greatness though and the Oscar nomination may have been a bit too much. Still go see it, the two leads make it worth it.

Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war tore the country apart. Even after it ended, the tension between the Christians and Muslims remained. Ziad Doueiri's drama "L'insulte" ("The Insult" in English) deals with one such tension. A spat between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian immigrant escalates into a physical altercation, leading to a trial that lays bare the festering wounds in Lebanese society.

The movie's plot should get seen in the context not only of Lebanon's civil war, but how foreign countries - the US and Israel on one side, Iran and Syria on the other - used the civil war as a proxy war. Meanwhile, large numbers of Palestinians fled to Lebanon, and plenty of Lebanese politicians talked about them like they were scum (Bashir Gemayel certainly did, and his assassination precipitated the 1982 massacres of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatilla).

As the movie makes clear, the causes of the tension are not always black and white. The movie simply presents the issues. I like seeing movies about cultures that we don't often get to see, but that's not the only thing that I recommend about this movie. The cinematography showing the Beirut rooftops - some upscale and some in need of TLC - combined with the intense performances make this one fine film. There's a reason why it received an Academy Award nomination.

PS: The movie's Arabic title, Qadiyya raqm 23, means "Case No. 23".