Rachel Weiscz Giver Her All in “Denial”
By Skip Sheffield
Rachel Weiscz is one formidable actress. She pours her body
and soul into her role of a lifetime in “Denial.”
Weiscz plays Deborah Lipstadt, upon whose 1993 book the
David Hare screenplay is based.
Lipstadt was a professor of Jewish Studies at Emory
University in Atlanta. David Irving (Timothy Spall) was a self-styled British historian
and avowed admirer of Adolph Hitler. Furthermore he had published books
claiming that the Holocaust never happened; that there were no gas chambers or
crematoriums.
The Nazis covered their tracks very well in World War II.
The most notorious concentration camp, Auschwitz, was leveled. We meet Irving
in Atlanta, interrupting Lipstadt’s class and defiantly offering anyone $1,000 cash
if they could prove the Holocaust happened. Lipstadt responded by branding
Irving a charlatan and bogus historian. He responded in 1996 by suing her for
libel and defamation of character.
The legal system is different in England. For one thing
judges wear those silly silver wigs. More importantly the burden of proof is on
the accused, not the accuser. To save her reputation and discredit Irving and
others like him, Lipstadt would have to provide solid proof the Holocaust
happened.
A courtroom- particularly a British one- is not very
exciting. “Denial” builds its case slowly and methodically, with Tom
Wilkinson’s Scottish lawyer Richard Rampton as the star player.
Timothy Spall usually plays lovable buffoons. In this case
he is a buffoon all right, but a reprehensible lying villain. Evil comes in
many forms. Sometimes it is from the jovial guy next door. David Irving had to
be brought down. His positions on the Holocaust were indefensible. That Deborah
Lipstadt had to prove the obvious shows what a brave woman she was. For that
reason “Denial” is an important film.
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