Directed by Mick Jackson. Reviewed by Paul Sorrell 

We live in politically volatile times. As the chief defence lawyer in Denial remarks, crossing swords with British historian and Holocaust denier David Irving was always going to be a risky venture. And so it has proved. Following the film’s release, Irving has gained huge numbers of online followers, mainly young people who lack even second-hand memories of the horrors of the Second World War.

In 1996 American Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt was sued by Irving for defamation, with the case to be tried at the High Court in London. Unlike American law, where the onus of proof in such cases lies on the accuser, Lipstadt had to prove the truth of what she had alleged in print — that Irving was a Holocaust denier and a liar.

As the courtroom drama unfolds, it seems at first that the defence team has the upper hand. While Irving (Timothy Spall) takes the risky step of defending himself, Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) has a large team at her disposal, including a Cambridge history professor and his two research assistants. Her core team consists of two top lawyers — the unruffled, smooth-talking Anthony Julius, a consummate strategist, and the avuncular Richard Rampton, a brilliant courtroom tactician. Rampton insists that he does all the talking. To forestall the wily Irving, Lipstadt is not allowed to speak in court or to bring any Holocaust survivors to the witness box. By denying Irving the chance to display his rhetorical strengths, the defence team are able to “box him in” and win the case.

Proof of Irving’s evasiveness and dishonesty rests on details – a diary entry in which he repeats a racist and anti-Semitic nursery rhyme to his baby daughter, or the now-destroyed chimneys that once protruded from the roof of the demolished gas chamber at Auschwitz. Irving picked Auschwitz to make his case because of its iconic status; other camps would presumably have yielded unequivocal evidence of mass gassing.

Recognising that something more than a forensic drama was needed to bring the film to life, director Jackson has added elements of contrast and conflict within the defence team. Lipstadt’s flaming red hair and colourful scarves contrast with the sombre courtroom attire of her British colleagues; they also underline the difference between her emotional investment in the case and the meticulous, rational approach pursued by Julius and Rampton.

Although, in the end, I felt that Denial failed to deliver a knockout punch, it comes highly recommended as a tense and absorbing drama that deals with real issues of our time.

Tui Motu magazine Issue 216 June 2017: 29