The Insult

What started as a banal insult escalates into civil unrest and riots in this edgy and unpredictable drama by Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Two men from different cultural backgrounds exchange harsh words about an inconsequential issue, which gets blown out of proportion and leads to dangerous consequences in a story that provides a profound look at the historical trauma that has shaped modern Lebanese society.

Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri, who made the powerful film The Attack, which not many people beyond the festival circuit saw, continues to impress with The Insult, a large-scale drama that should appeal to bigger audiences. The new film, which is well shot and well acted, is about a seemingly trivial street incident – a slur – between two working class men, which first escalates into a vocal verbal dispute, then into a physical brawl, and finally into an emotionally and politically charged courtroom drama about broader moral and ethical issues.