Denial centres on David Irving’s historic libel action against Deborah Lipstadt

REVIEW: This moderately gripping courtroom drama centres on a bizarre and highly controversial real-life case which ran for several years.

DENIAL (M)

Director: Mick Jackson (The Bodyguard)

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Andrew Scott, Caren Pistorius.

Rating: Three stars

Refreshing the memories of those determined to forget

WELL before there was ever such a thing as fake news, Denial reminds us there was fake history.

This moderately gripping courtroom drama centres on a bizarre and highly controversial real-life case which ran for several years almost two decades ago.

What started out as a regulation libel suit ended up as an unprecedented trial to establish whether the Holocaust of World War II actually ever occurred.

Rachel Weisz plays Deborah Lipstadt, an American author charged with the slighting the “good” name of the world’s foremost Holocaust denier.

Rachel Weisz plays the author Deborah E. Lipstadt in a scene from the film Denial. Picture: Laurie Sparham

By suing Lipstadt on home turf in the UK, maverick historian David Irving (Timothy Spall) exploits a quirk of British libel law that places the burden of proof on the defendant.

Therefore Lipstadt and her lawyers must provide hard evidence of the systematic genocide against Jews in 1940s Germany, a task which is far more difficult than anyone could assume.

Particularly after chief counsel Andrew Julius (Andrew Scott) decides on an unconventional defence that prohibits both Lipstadt and actual Holocaust survivors from testifying in court.

In consultation with the brilliant Scottish libel lawyer Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson), Julius instead pursues a strategy that will weaken and topple the central pillar of Irving’s argument against the existence of the Holocaust.

Curiously, Denial sometimes has its problems pressing home the complex provocations associated with its hot-button topic.

Some of the crucial speeches in court fall short of generating the right-minded rush that can lift the spirits or raise the ire of an audience.

Nevertheless, the sheer strangeness of the case, the unrelentingly vile defiance of Irving (played with a scarily measured brand of malice by Spall), and the unshakable commitment of Lipstadt all come through quite strongly when needed.

Timothy Spall plays David Irving with a scarily measured brand of malice. Picture: Laurie Sparham

Originally published as Denial centres on David Irving’s historic libel action against Deborah Lipstadt