The Insult Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Insult Blu-ray Movie Review

How do you say 'Yo mama' in Arabic?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 1, 2018

Mention Middle East tensions to many people, and chances are a lot of those folks will almost automatically think of the millennia old “family dysfunctions” between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, but one of the most bracing things about the Academy Award nominated The Insult is how it ports a lot of people’s understanding of unrest in this often troubled region over to Lebanon, where the central conflict is between a Christian and a Palestinian. The Insult may remind some lovers of international cinema of another film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Academy Award that was released on Blu-ray by Cohen, namely Timbuktu, in that both films document a seemingly minor incident spiraling completely out of control in both personal and legal ways. Timbuktu’s morass of problems is interwoven with so-called sharia law, and in fact the “incident” that sparks certain plot dynamics is almost tangential to the overall story trajectory, while in The Insult, the “incident” is central, if just as enigmatically inconsequential seeming. The Insult begins with a “rah rah” political rally where Lebanon’s large Christian population is seen celebrating their party’s national prominence as a ruling force. One of the most vigorous members of the audience turns out to be Tony Hanna (Adel Karam), a man who initially at least seems to be surviving in the roiling urban environment of Beirut, where he works as a mechanic and cares for his extremely pregnant wife, Shirine (Rita Hayek).

But without really providing a ton of context (something that is doled out in dribs and drabs as the story progresses), co-writer and director Ziad Doueiri (The Attack, another interesting if sometimes problematic study of internecine tensions) offers an almost comic escalation of anger when Tony waters some plants on his balcony and an illegal drainpipe dumps a sprinkling of dirty water on a Palestinian construction foreman below named Yasser Abdallah Salameh (Kamel El Basha). Yasser is there with a crew to fix a number of illegalities in various buildings, including the one where Tony and his wife live, and so he approaches Tony to tell him his drainpipe doesn’t meet code and that his crew will fix it. Tony is having none of it, in one of the kind of odd elisions that populate the early going in this story, and after Yasser and his crew start to simply go ahead with the repair, Tony goes ballistic (a recurring element with this character). That leads to Yasser yelling a profanity at Tony (one which some folks will probably feel is deserved), which then really pushes Tony’s buttons, to the point that he goes to the landlord of the building and demands an apology. Things become even more convoluted when Yasser not only refuses to apologize but punches Tony with enough force to break two of the mechanic’s ribs, setting off a series of courtroom interchanges that soon involve Lebanon’s conflict obsessed media. It almost makes the “little” issues concerning Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and their various offspring seem like a passing storyline on a daytime soap opera.

In a way it’s understandable why Doueiri wants to withhold certain salient information about both Tony and Yasser, but for me personally that meant I kept wondering why Tony goes apopleptic for seemingly no reason — repeatedly. Yasser is certainly no choir boy, either, though the film perhaps does a better job of documenting his frustration, indeed his humiliation, over being an unwanted immigrant seen as almost a lesser species. One of the film’s recurring motifs has actual footage of a long ago political rally featuring Christian politico Bachir Gemayel (who was later assassinated) urging his countrymen to “purge” their nation of unwanted Palestinians, and in fact Yasser is subjected to a snippet of this footage on Tony’s television before he goes ballistic and takes out a couple of Tony’s ribs.

As this review is being written there’s a news cycle being reported where the White House Chief of Staff is being quoted (whether accurately or not is up for debate) as having stated that women are inherently more emotional than men, but if you wanted a clear cinematic example of exactly the opposite, The Insult would suffice quite handily. In fact while Tony and Yasser go off the rails emotionally repeatedly throughout this story, their wives are often the more balanced, reasonable ones. That said, one particular subplot involving Shirine might be perceived as overly manipulative and melodramatic, two things that are actually not all that necessary given the underlying drama of the decaying of an already bad situation between Tony and Yasser. Another actually kind of silly reveal involving the antagonists’ attorneys also tends to jerk the viewer out of the experience because, again, it seems overly manipulative and just flat out unneeded.

If the court proceedings aren’t quite as baroque as those depicted in another yarn from the Middle East, Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, they’re often filled with intrigue and are (like Gett) almost distressingly personal at times. But I’m not quite sure The Insult really has the courage of its convictions (no pun intended), at least as evidenced by an ending that seems to want to have its emotional cake and eat it, too. It’s rather remarkable that this film begins with an actual disclaimer that any opinions or elements depicted are not those of the Lebanese government, as if the government itself didn’t want to be associated with anything that even attempts to treat such a provocative subject as the relationship between Lebanese Christians and Palestinian “interlopers”.

The Insult Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Insult is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb doesn't list any relevant technical data, but your intrepid reviewer was able to track down this extremely interesting and informational interview with cinematographer Tomasso Fiorilli where he talks about shooting (mostly) with Arri Alexa XTs. This is by and large a really sharp and well detailed looking transfer, one that benefits from the bustling but typically brightly lit urban environment of Beirut. As is discussed in the above linked interview, there are a number of things like "jiggly cam" and over the shoulder shots where camera stability isn't optimal, and things can look slightly soft. Doueiri and Fiorilli are evidently big fans of lens flare (see screenshots 6 and 7, though the above linked interview even gets into that, with even more examples), and elements like that can tend to diminish image clarity at select moments. There is a slight chunky look to some of the most dimly lit interior moments (as in the bedroom of Tony and Shirine), where things have a kind of mottled yellow appearance and detail levels are a little less impressive than the bulk of the presentation.

The Insult Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Insult's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track provides decent if intermittent immersion courtesy of elements like traffic noises or even good directional placement of effects in more cloistered environments like the courtrooms, but a lot of this film tends to play out in smaller scale, if no less intense, dialogue scenes where surround activity can be fairly subtle. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and there are no issues with damage or distortion.

The Insult Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Conversations from the Quad with Ziad Douieri (1080p; 33:09) is hosted by Richard Pena, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:11)

The Insult Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I found a lot of The Insult to be absolutely riveting, but I personally am not all that sure whether even the explanation given for Tony's temper in particular really accounts for the character's completely over the top reactions to minor events. Yes, of course there's subtext involved, but there's no really convincing motivational underpinning for some of the overheated dramatics this film employs. That said, The Insult is a fascinating peek into a culture and climate that few in the United States may even be aware of. Cohen has provided its typically fine quality in terms of this disc's technical merits, and The Insult comes Recommended.