• _Denial_

    From septimus_millenicom@q.com@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 22 19:09:00 2016
    I saw _Denial_ mostly because of Rachel Weisz and screenwriter
    David Hare. It is a based-on-real-life tale abut a libel suit
    filed against Weisz's character, a Jewish professor who lives
    in Georgia, U.S., by a London-based Holocaust-denier and self-
    styled "historian."

    It is not a great film and Weisz's interpretation reminds me
    of _My Blueberry Nights_, where she plays another Southern
    woman and overacts similarly too. Part of the problem is
    that she is given so little in the screenplay -- almost no
    backstory or family at all. (She jogs and has a dog. That
    tells us something about her life, of course. But did she
    grow up in the South? Who is she, really?) I don't know
    if this is David Hare's fault or the director's. Hare
    directed a superb and horribly underrated film about another
    American professional woman in London, the 1989 _Strapless_
    starring Blair Brown, which managed to convey her life story
    with just a few hints. One wishes Hare is the director here
    as well.

    The title refers to Weisz's charismatic, racist liar of an
    adversary's denial of the Holocaust, of course. But in
    none-too-subtle ways, it also refers to Weisz' need to
    deny herself outbursts in the courtroom (she is not
    allowed to testify by her lawyers), and the prodigious
    research and hard work put in by those lawyers. Only
    one person in the team has her private life shown.

    Almost every reviewer has commented on the incredible
    timeliness of the film. The last speech Weisz gives
    touch on climate change among things being lied about.
    The slimmed-down Timothy Spall (_Mr. Turner_), who
    plays the racist, cracking jokes and drawing crowds,
    is prescient about Donald Trump, although he
    could also be any of our hierarchy of bosses with
    no regard for facts or truth. Rachel Weisz's
    self-control reminds me of Hillary Clinton in
    her presidential debates. But the character who
    fortuitously stands in for Clinton is her lead
    barrister played by Tom Wilkinson. He is a dour,
    anti-charismatic technocrat who wins cases because
    he is meticulous, works incredibly hard, and has
    the consumate insider's knowledge of how to win.
    He is the real hero of the film. In real life,
    if he were not helping this one-sided cause, he
    would have been loathed by the general public.
    In the end, that's probably why Hillary Clinton
    is so disliked. She isn't one of "us." (Her
    transgressions, such as they are, pale compare
    to the bosses of you and me, I'm sure. I once
    had a manager who called my intern student back
    to work when she was undergoing chemotherapy.)

    So in the end, _Denial_ is a thought-provoking film.

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