Oscar-Nominated Film 'The Insult' Shines Light on Divided Lebanon

 

Ziad Doueiri's film The Insult has been nominated to receive the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

The film explores the cultural, religious and political divides that have existed in Lebanon since 1948.

The story is rooted in a dispute between two men from different ethnic¹ and religious backgrounds in Beirut, Lebanon.

Through the film, Doueiri shows a country he believes is broken because it has not dealt with its painful history.

"Beirut, Lebanon had a rough past," Doueiri said. "We had a lot of conflict with the Syrians, the Palestinians, the Lebanese, the Left, the Right, the Conservatives, the Liberals. The pro-West, the pro-East. Lebanon is such a tiny place, but it really absorbs all those kinds of things. He addes, "So, whenever you have that many conflicts and such a tiny place surrounded by so many countries we are on a hotbed of problems.”

The Lebanese filmmaker said the effects of his country’s civil war can still be felt.

“Things can get out of hand because since the end of the civil war the Lebanese never sat down with each other to say, 'ok the war is over, let's talk about it.' There is stability, but it can explode any time," he said.

The Insult brings to life Lebanon’s difficult political climate.

Two men in Beirut have a small dispute. As the disagreement sharpens, it comes to represent a much larger problem.

Tony is a Christian², who works as a car mechanic. Yasser is a Palestinian. He heads a building project.

A leaking pipe leaves Tony wet. Yasser fixes the pipe only to see Tony destroy it. He is angry that a Palestinian came so close to his property. Yasser becomes angry, too and insults Tony.

Tony’s pregnant wife tells Tony to let it end there. But Tony ignores the advice and goes to Yasser’s employer. He demands that Yasser apologize and be fined for his behavior.

Like most Palestinian refugees who live in Lebanon, Yasser does not have a work permit. His boss pressures him to apologize or face dismissal.

When Yasser meets with Tony, their argument intensifies³. This time it is Tony who insults Yasser. Yasser hits Tony and breaks some bones. Tony takes legal action.

Doueiri said the idea for his film came from personal experience.

"Just like the film starts, I was watering my plants. It's an old apartment so the water leaked and fell on one of the construction workers and he yelled because the water fell on him and we had a heated exchange of words and we ended up yelling at each other."

Doueiri said his argument was settled. Later, he said, he imagined what might happen if such a small incident was not settled. Could it develop into a national crisis in Lebanon, he wondered.

In The Insult, the two men take the dispute all the way up to the country's Supreme⁴ Court.

Doueiri said his latest film has caused mixed reactions in Lebanon.

"When the film came out, it split the country in a way because the Christian population flooded the movie and it became #1. But certain part, and I want just to be accurate, a certain part, a big part of the Muslim community boycotted⁵ the movie."

As a filmmaker, Doueiri has been at the center of controversy⁶ before. His earlier film, The Attack, was banned in 22 countries, including Lebanon, because he had shot it in Israel.

He said some Arab countries, including Jordan and the Palestinian territories, have also boycotted The Insult.

Doueiri said his film offers a balanced study between Christian Lebanese and Muslim Palestinians.

I’m Caty Weaver⁷.

Words in This Story

background – n. the experiences, knowledge, education, etc., in a person's past?

hotbed – n. a place where something grows or develops easily : a place where something happens very commonly?

out of hand – expression uncontrolled; wild

stability – n. the quality or state of something that is not easily changed or likely to change?

controversy – n. argument that involves many people who strongly disagree about something : strong disagreement about something among a large group of peopl?

scene – n. a part of a play, movie, story, etc., in which a particular action or activity occurs

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。