Literally rendered, “casus belli” means “cause of war”. The cause can be vital or futile and the blaze it ignites can be a world war or a neighborhood squabble. But some stages are the same, whatever the scale of the conflict: misunderstanding – misinterpretation of signs, acts or words; defamation – open or veiled insults; and escalation. A blaze is easier to ignite than to extinguish. This film examines the difficult work of bringing human beings in discord back to relative peace. It explores two places and two professions: the neighborhood mediator, who listens, refrains from offering advice, and tries to get the conflicting parties themselves to find the solution, and the Justice of the Peace, who makes a ruling in some cases, and tries to broker an agreement in others – though it may be a long and difficult process. On scene before them is the theatre of humanity, with their trickery, their bragging, their charm offensives, and their sincerity.