“Denial”

Rated PG-13 (1:10)

***

“Denial” is a movie about a real-life libel case. The filmmaking isn’t fancy or ambitious. Its aim is to tell the story of the case, from its origins to its finish, and it does so clearly, with no embellishment. Fortunately, the issues surrounding the case are so fascinating and so packed with moral importance that a straightforward telling is quite enough to make “Denial” a worthwhile drama.

In 1996, American historian Deborah Lipstadt was sued by British historian David Irving over Lipstadt’s claim that Irving was a liar and a falsifier of history. In his books and lectures, Irving had claimed that there were no gas chambers at Auschwitz. In bringing the suit, Irving charged that Lipstadt had damaged his career and his reputation.

For American viewers, “Denial” is a miniature tour of the British legal system, and it’s surprisingly interesting. Lipstadt — full of feisty integrity as played by Rachel Weisz — is initially shocked, as we are, that in Britain a libel defendant is guilty until proved innocent! This is presumably why Irving brought the suit in London, not New York.

Thus, because Lipstadt’s allegedly libelous comments were unambiguous and because she and her publisher have no intention of settling, she and her lawyers have to prove two things or lose the case: 1) That Irving’s Auschwitz writings were inaccurate; and 2) — this is the hard one — that he did it intentionally, for the purpose of pushing an anti-Semitic agenda.

Timothy Spall plays Irving, in a full-out, theatrical performance that is complex and fun to watch. He makes him reptilian, strange, slightly unbalanced, frighteningly intelligent and in possession of a sort of animal cunning that allows him to read the room and the situation with acuity. He is a big part of the movie’s success, though one wonders how the movie might have fared with a performance closer to the real-life Irving, who can be charming and seem entirely reasonable. Spall’s Irving is a brilliant nut you can see from across the block. The real Irving was probably more formidable.

Lipstadt’s lawyers, played by Tom Wilkinson and Andrew Scott (Moriarty in “Sherlock”), want the trial to be about Irving, but the press depicts it as though the Holocaust itself were on trial. Much of the tension of the film isn’t between Lipstadt and Irving so much as between Lipstadt and her lawyers, between a client who wants to testify and put Holocaust survivors on the stand, and attorneys who want to take a more prudent approach. Throughout we have to wonder who’s right, the no-nonsense, New York-born Lipstadt or the canny Brits working on her behalf. I can’t guess how a British audience will see the movie, but from an American perspective, we are right there with Lipstadt, trying to figure out if these British lawyers are bloodless stuffed shirts or simply so much smarter than Americans that they feel no need to make a fuss about it.

Weisz’s conviction, passion and galvanizing outrage drive “Denial.” For a Jewish academic, this was no intellectual exercise, and Weisz lets us see it. Between the frames, Weisz likewise assures us that “Denial” is no routine movie for a Jewish actress.