The next movie the Vernon Film Society will be presenting Monday, June 4 is the Lebanese entry for the best foreign film in the Oscars – The Insult.
This highly acclaimed movie is more than a riveting courtroom drama as it has the background of the conflict between Christians and Palestinians in Lebanon which has a long history.
It starts with a small insult which is blown out of proportion and sees Tony (Adel Karam), a Lebanese Christian, and Yasser (Kamel El Basha), a Palestinian refugee, facing off in court. The case develops into a media circus with entrenched views on either side and memories of past atrocities are dredged up and Lebanon’s civil war, which officially ended in 1990, seems on the verge of erupting all over again.
The wives of the two men try to reason with their husbands and neither man really intends for things to escalate as they do and neither can figure out how to back down without a loss of face. In many ways, this is a universal story of conflict and how the personal becomes the political.
“There is something undeniably exhilarating about the film’s honest assessment of the never-ending conflict between decency and cruelty that rages in every nation, neighbourhood and heart,” reviews A.O. Scott of the New York Times.
The movie will bring to the fore many of the issues facing the Middle East in an entertaining, thoughtful way to moviegoers.
Rated R. Lebanese with English subtitles. The Insult screens June 4 at 5:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. at the Vernon Towne Cinema. All seats $7, cash only. Tickets are available at the Bean Scene Coffee House and the Cinema.
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