orangerful | movie thoughts: Denial (2016)

This movie was such a surprise because, honestly, I was worried it might just be a boring courtroom drama. But this was well written, well acted, and very well directed. The entire cast was amazing.

Based on a true story, Historian/Writer/Professor Deborah Lipstadt was brought to court by "historian" David Irving for libel back in the late 1990s. She mentioned his Holocaust denial in her book about the issue, saying how he misconstrued the facts to fit this narrative that the Holocaust did not happen. The catch - Irving is British and he charges Lipstadt in the high courts so the burden of proof is left to Lipstadt and her team.

I really wish this movie had not felt so relevant as I watched it this morning, almost twenty years from the start of the lawsuit. These arguments about hate speech vs free speech, about having "alternative facts" and about being in denial about what is right and wrong...it rang just as true today.

The point of the film, the idea of letting justice and truth and facts speak for themselves, is scary because so many debates about things like the Holocaust and racism and prejudice get very emotional. This is what Lipstadt has to deal with for much of the movie, finding a way to get the emotional release she needs while letting her lawyers navigate the legal system.

I definitely recommend this one.