美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'The Insult,' All Politics Is A Local Neighborhood Squabble

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Can something as simple as saying I'm sorry stop a war in the Middle East? That is the premise¹ of a new film called "The Insult." It's from Lebanon, and it's up for an Oscar. And in the film, a neighborhood fight between two men pushes the city of Beirut to the edge of chaos². NPR's Bilal Qureshi has more.

BILAL QURESHI, BYLINE³: Filmmaker Ziad Doueiri was at his home in Beirut a few years ago. He was watering his plants on the balcony when the water spilled out onto a construction worker below.

ZIAD DOUEIRI: So I leaned on the balcony. I yelled at him. He yelled back. He says, you're a dog. And then this thing led to a bigger insult which - I threw an insult at him. Joelle, the co-screenwriter, was standing⁴ behind me that day. And she says, how could you insult a Palestinian as you said? This is so bad what you just said. I said, you're right. So I came down to apologize. And then the guy refused my apology because he was very hurt.

QURESHI: That argument is pushed to its extreme in Ziad Doueiri's new film, "The Insult." Water leaks off a Christian⁵ man's balcony onto a Palestinian worker. Arguments ensue. Insults are thrown.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE INSULT")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, foreign language spoken).

QURESHI: Neither man is willing to apologize.

DOUEIRI: It's very rare in my culture where you can have somebody who does something and he comes face to face, says, look; I really apologize. It's not part of our culture, so that's why this guy in the film, he wants an apology. All he wants is an apology. And then later we start finding out why.

QURESHI: The why has to do with Lebanon's past, the religious and ethnic⁶ divisions that tore the country into warring factions⁷. From 1975 to 1990, the Lebanese civil war killed more than a hundred thousand people.

DOUEIRI: Lebanon, in spite of its smallness - it's only 4 million people - it's still extremely rich because it's one of those places that has all the religion in it. You have Christians⁸, Shiites, Sunni, Catholics, Protestant, Armenian, Turks - all of it. You know, you have 16 religion that are all recognized by the government. It's what made it diversified⁹, complex and fiery¹⁰.

QURESHI: And it remains¹¹ flammable, says Lebanese journalist Nana Asfour. She says what has kept those communities together since the civil war is only a shaky peace.

NANA ASFOUR: The theme that Ziad is taking on, which is this whole idea that the war ended abruptly¹² without any national conciliation¹³, is something that a lot of Lebanese filmmakers and artists and writers of his generation have been sort of pushing for in their own works, that idea that there's been what they call a historical amnesia¹⁴ that has happened in Lebanon where everybody's thinks, oh, let's just look forward and not look back. All the problems that led to the war have not been dealt with appropriately, and anything can happen to bring them back.

QURESHI: In "The Insult," the argument over leaking water goes to court.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE INSULT")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character, foreign language spoken).

QURESHI: The proceedings¹⁵ go viral. Palestinians and Christians start fighting on the streets of Beirut. The politics on screen are still so sensitive that Ziad Doueiri's previous film was banned in the Arab world. It was called "The Attack," and it was about the Arab citizens of Israel. Doueiri filmed part of the story in Israel, which is against Lebanese law. He says artists have to be free to explore other points of view.

DOUEIRI: I grew up all my life considering the other side as the ultimate enemy. But I am still curious. I want to know, who are those people? I am for dialogue. I am for bridging gaps. This is what we do for a living. Crossing borders is what we do for a living just to see, what is their narrative¹⁶, those people you grew up all your life hating so much? But they must have a point of view. "The Insult" is the response to that.

QURESHI: Now "The Insult" is also facing protests led by the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts¹⁷, divestment and sanctions against Israel. They've accused Doueiri of being pro-Israeli and of selling out. After "The Insult" premiered at the Venice Film Festival last fall, Ziad Doueiri was detained at the Beirut airport. The film's screening in the West Bank was canceled.

DOUEIRI: The BDS' purpose is - what? - defend Palestine. When you go and you forbid a film where the main actor, a Palestinian guy, won best award at Venice Film Festival, first time in history that a Palestinian actor went in Venice or anywhere else in the world - first time - when the BDS, who are supposed to be protecting Palestinian rights, stop this Palestinian actor to present his movies in Ramallah, basically you're screwing yourself in the head. That's why I will fight them till the end, till the core.

QURESHI: Ziad Doueiri says he won't apologize. And given the firestorm around his work, he was shocked that Lebanon chose "The Insult" as its entry to this year's Oscars.

DOUEIRI: That was my award. I already got my award. Nobody believed that it would happen. I mean, Lebanon does take you by surprise from time to time.

QURESHI: And Doueiri says his movies take him by surprise, too. His default setting is angry and cynical¹⁸. He's been known to throw insults. But he says it's through his films that he calms down.

DOUEIRI: In my film, I try to tap into the moderate part of me. Otherwise you lose your mind. But if you let me out there, I can be a lot angrier. If you hear what I really think, I would be the subject of a different interview. I mean...

QURESHI: So your films play a moderating...

DOUEIRI: In myself. It's - you project. You say, oh, it would be good to have a world like this.

QURESHI: And Ziad Doueiri says his films are his way of healing the scars that still divide Beirut and his way of pouring water over the insults that inflame¹⁹ so easily. Bilal Qureshi, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 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。

6 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。

7 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

8 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

9 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

13 conciliation   

n.调解，调停

参考例句：

• By conciliation,cooperation is established.通过调解，友好合作关系得以确立。
• Their attempts at conciliation had failed and both sides were once again in dispute.他们进行调停的努力失败了，双方再次陷入争吵。

14 amnesia   

n.健忘症，健忘

参考例句：

• People suffering from amnesia don't forget their general knowledge of objects.患健忘症的人不会忘记关于物体的一些基本知识。
• Chinese medicine experts developed a way to treat amnesia using marine materials.中国医学专家研制出用海洋物质治疗遗忘症的方法。

15 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

16 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

17 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

18 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

19 inflame   

v.使燃烧；使极度激动；使发炎

参考例句：

• Our lack of response seemed to inflame the colonel.由于我们没有反应,好象惹恼了那个上校。
• Chemical agents manufactured by our immune system inflame our cells and tissues,causing our nose to run and our throat to swell.我们的免疫系统产生的化学物质导致我们的细胞和组织发炎，导致我们流鼻水和我们的喉咙膨胀。