The Insult (2018)

It's not quite the blazing masterpiece the cover blurb, in English, would have you believe. And for English-speaking viewers, it has subtitles although I'm quite happy with that.The movie tackles a very, very, very touchy political and religious subject. I make no claim at all to fully understanding the issues which, I suspect, will make the movie difficult to understand for UK, EU and American viewers. There's not really a good guy or a bad guy, hence the difficulty, although quite early on it's obvious the writer - oh, gosh, who also directed! - is portraying Tony as the bad guy. And, indeed, he is what his opponent calls a 'f*cking pr*ck.' There's no getting away from that, in spite of subsequent revelations.The movie soon turns into a courtroom drama - which I love - and we see how easily the media manipulates the masses - and how ready they are to be manipulated.It's expertly directed and all the actors are superb.There is a slight 'turn' towards the end which doesn't really make sense but which provides a meagre optimism which the writer/oh boy/director obviously wanted. It's a plot device, not a characteristic of the character.The movie highlights the impossibilities of the situation and there really are no winners or losers. This will take generations to end, if indeed, it ever does. If you're not directly involved in the Middle East conflict, thank your lucky stars, Watching this movie is moderately interesting but it will solve nothing and probably inform you less.

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.

After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese man (Adel Karam) and a Palestinian refugee (Kamel El Basha) escalates, the two end up in a court case that gets national attention."L'insult" ("The Insult") is Lebanon's official submission for the best foreign language film in this year's Oscar race. They have tried to achieve getting nominated for 14 times in the last 40 years, and this is the first successful attempt.I would call it a solid mix of social commentary and courtroom drama but can't find inspiration to write about the experience at length.Maybe it's a brave movie by Lebanese standards, depicting the long-standing tensions between nationals and refugees, but it seems pretty mainstream work compared to the standards set by American or international movies.The screenplay is certainly intelligent but doesn't feel especially original or deep - just a relevant topic and quite a simple story well told.The clever part is showing how loaded issues start a life of their own fast and may travel far beyond the point that the instigators intended.Still, the undoubtedly strongest point of it all is the captivating, understated acting by two leads which gives even the smallest events a hefty bunch of suspense. The performances feel more Oscar-worthy than the whole thing itself, really.All in all, "L'insult" is an agreeable submission for Oscar race, but I'd rather vote for Russian "Loveless" or Chilean "Una mujer fantástica" ("Fantastic Woman"). Both feel stronger and more ambitious dramatically and artistically, also partially cover the same topics of irrational hate and possibility of redemption.Of this year's five foreign language movie noms, I haven't yet seen Hungary's "On Body and Soul".

A Lebanese movie perfectly describing the situation in Lebanon after the war...