Denial (2016) – Encore Review

“Now, some people are saying that the result of this trial will threaten free speech. I don’t accept that. I’m not attacking free speech. On the contrary, I’ve been defending it against someone who wanted to abuse it. Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you want. What you can’t do is lie and expect not to be held accountable for it. Not all opinions are equal. And some things happened, just like we say they do. Slavery happened, the Black Death happened. The Earth is round, the ice caps are melting, and Elvis is not alive.” – Deborah Lipstadt

Number of Times Seen – Twice (5 Feb 2017 and 1 Mar 2022)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A history Professor is sued for libel after trying to call out a Holocaust Denier. Based on a true story.

My Take on it – This is a film that I saw over 5 years ago and was reminded of it again when I recorded a podcast on Rachel Weisz performances today which inspired me to rewatch this film.

Of all of her roles (to date), this is my favorite because of the way that she plays this character in such a fierce way that is enhanced by her passion for all that she does.

The film’s cast is superb because besides Weisz, it also features Timothy Spall and Tom Wilkinson and all three are given such great dialogue to help make this story a pure verbal battle between them.

It’s noteworthy that almost all of the courtroom dialogue is taken verbatim from the real court transcripts and that helps make things so much more powerful knowing that the words of these characters in the courtroom are all based on fact.

Love the way that this film questions the idea of who needs to decide history; historians, the courts or anyone who wishes to do so.

Such a powerful film!

Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Rachel Weisz and a small film crew were given permission to film at Auschwitz Birkenau, the Nazi death camp in Poland where almost one million Jews died. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (no change from original review)