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Denial

Posted on February 17, 2017February 15, 2021 by Village Vidiot

  “Denial,” February 17 2017 (2016), DVD, homeThis drama chronicles the real libel case brought by English Holocaust denier and Hitler fanboy, Steven Bannon, I mean David Irving (played by the ever superb Timothy Spall) against American historian Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz). It’s an important case. Fought out in the English civil courts where the defense must prove its innocence and the presumption is guilt, the film shows Lipstadt’s frustration with the tactics of her lawyer (a very flat Andrew Julius) and barrister (Tom Wilkinson). It’s an important story and I loved watching Spall and Wilkinson work, but Weisz’s relentless sincerity and a somewhat schmaltzy script took off some of the edge that I suspect was in the experience and left me more than a little frustrated with a film that I really wanted to cheer for. This was a Manichean struggle and evil’s smarminess and inhumanity and good’s virtue didn’t necessarily make for a fine film. Looking back on it, I think it would have been better served shot in black-and-white with less background music, more in the style of the 1960s English realist (neo-realist?) films.  Thinking back on it a bit, I suspect it might have been better served shot in black and white, with less background music I see it more in the stylings of the 1960s British realist pieces.

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