An American academic (Rachel Weisz as Deborah Lipstadt) has to defend a libel (written defamation) suit in London - based on real events.
Making an entertaining and authentic movie out of a 32-day libel trial in an English court (with no jury) is no mean feat: Denial delivers the goods, and there's very little wasted screen time. Much emotional impact is wrung from the fact that it's about the denial of the WWII holocaust by self-styled historian David Irving. The defence team has to prove Lipstadt's claim that he deliberately falsified his stories.
Timothy Spall's performance of Irving is as unflattering as Scott's portrayal of Julius is flattering. I was a classmate of Anthony Julius (the lead solicitor, who gently but firmly educates Lipstadt in the mysteries of English law), and it's very strange watching a handsome, slim, sexy actor (Anthony Scott) doing an impression of somebody who would to have had a major makeover in the intervening 20 years to look like that! (Sorry, Tone!)
Spall's Irving comes across as completely batty, rather than wicked, though Irving represents a tiny part of English society that is very real and very nasty. But hey, SPOILER - history is written by the winner.
It's a slick, atmospheric, expensive movie, best watched with a good bottle of claret, probably. All that's missing is a bit at the end where it would say, "Mishcon De Reya (Julius' law firm) - because you're worth it."
Making an entertaining and authentic movie out of a 32-day libel trial in an English court (with no jury) is no mean feat: Denial delivers the goods, and there's very little wasted screen time. Much emotional impact is wrung from the fact that it's about the denial of the WWII holocaust by self-styled historian David Irving. The defence team has to prove Lipstadt's claim that he deliberately falsified his stories.
Timothy Spall's performance of Irving is as unflattering as Scott's portrayal of Julius is flattering. I was a classmate of Anthony Julius (the lead solicitor, who gently but firmly educates Lipstadt in the mysteries of English law), and it's very strange watching a handsome, slim, sexy actor (Anthony Scott) doing an impression of somebody who would to have had a major makeover in the intervening 20 years to look like that! (Sorry, Tone!)
Spall's Irving comes across as completely batty, rather than wicked, though Irving represents a tiny part of English society that is very real and very nasty. But hey, SPOILER - history is written by the winner.
It's a slick, atmospheric, expensive movie, best watched with a good bottle of claret, probably. All that's missing is a bit at the end where it would say, "Mishcon De Reya (Julius' law firm) - because you're worth it."