Lebanese filmmaker Ziad Doueiri needs no introduction, having directed a series of successful films over the years. While "West Beirut" will forever remain my favorite movie, his latest effort, "The Insult", further confirms his skill as a talented storyteller. In short: it's one of the most intense Lebanese movies I've ever seen. What makes "The Insult" so good is the way Doueiri takes a seemingly ordinary situation and builds a web of suspense around it. Adel Karam (in one of the best performances of his career) plays Toni, a Lebanese christian who can't seem to let go of the past. One day, he gets into a heated argument with a Palestinian worker (played by an excellent Kamel El Basha), which leads to a domino-like sequence of unpredictable events. Doueiri masterfully explores the dark side of each character, especially as it relates to patriotism, politics, and the consequences of taking revenge. I'd say this is Doueiri's specialty, and the sense of discomfort he creates throughout this exceptional film will hold you in its grip at every turn. And when it ends, it leaves us with much food for thought, something that's been missing from most recent Lebanese films. Having been criticized so many times for not supporting local movies, it's refreshing to finally encounter something worth recommending. Ziad Doueiri's "The Insult" is a terrific achievement.

Greetings again from the darkness. When a film opens with a statement that 'the views expressed are those of the authors and director, and not of the government of Lebanon', one quickly understands the difference in artistic freedom in that country versus what occurs in the United States, where cartoons and memes regularly poke fun at this country's President. Director Ziad Doueri and his co-writer Joelle Touma present an intense story of human nature that might happen anywhere, but since the leads are a Lebanese Christian and a Palestine refugee, that opening statement is warranted.

One morning, a seemingly innocuous exchange between Tony (Adel Karam) and Yasser (Kamel El-Basha) takes place. While watering flowers on his balcony, the overflow sprays Yasser on the street below. Yasser, a city contractor, orders his team to fix the drainage issue, and Tony reacts violently - leading to Yasser delivering the titular insult. From there, all heck breaks loose. Apologies are requested and never delivered. Appeals to rational reconsideration are made. Tony's pregnant wife (an excellent Rita Hayek) pleads with him to let it go. Yasser's boss threatens him with termination. Still, two stubborn and prideful men refuse to give in.

The subsequent courtroom drama feature other side stories, not the least of which is the relationship between the two opposing attorneys (Diamond Bou Abboud and Camile Salaheh), one a rising legal star and the other a veteran attempting to make up for a past failure. Emotions run high as two too-proud men turn what was little more than a playground standoff into a national incident being fought in the legal system and the media. Tony is a hot-head who somehow thinks an apology from Yasser is actually an apology for how Palestinians "messed up this country". Yasser's stoic nature barely shrouds his bitterness at the world since the Lebanon Civil War. History and childhood roots play a role, but mostly it's human nature that is at the core of this escalation.

Though the title is not plural, there are multiple insults slung throughout the film, each reminding us of the power of words and the futility of the "sticks and stones" phrase. Our own prejudices and preconceptions alter our views and reactions, often preventing us from standing in the other fellow's shoes. Again, this situation could have played out in most any neighborhood on the globe, but this particular locale shows various ethnic and religious groups are still grappling with what it means to live together - despite the years of wars and unrest. We don't see a great deal of Middle Eastern cinema, but three days after I watched this film, it became the first ever movie from Lebanon to receive an Oscar nomination (Best Foreign Language Film) ... proving yet again that the language of cinema is universal.

Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war tore the country apart. Even after it ended, the tension between the Christians and Muslims remained. Ziad Doueiri's drama "L'insulte" ("The Insult" in English) deals with one such tension. A spat between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian immigrant escalates into a physical altercation, leading to a trial that lays bare the festering wounds in Lebanese society.

The movie's plot should get seen in the context not only of Lebanon's civil war, but how foreign countries - the US and Israel on one side, Iran and Syria on the other - used the civil war as a proxy war. Meanwhile, large numbers of Palestinians fled to Lebanon, and plenty of Lebanese politicians talked about them like they were scum (Bashir Gemayel certainly did, and his assassination precipitated the 1982 massacres of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatilla).

As the movie makes clear, the causes of the tension are not always black and white. The movie simply presents the issues. I like seeing movies about cultures that we don't often get to see, but that's not the only thing that I recommend about this movie. The cinematography showing the Beirut rooftops - some upscale and some in need of TLC - combined with the intense performances make this one fine film. There's a reason why it received an Academy Award nomination.

PS: The movie's Arabic title, Qadiyya raqm 23, means "Case No. 23".