Mick Jackson's film is one of great importance as the story represents a prominent movement of people who sought to deny the reality of the Holocaust as a hoax. This is what David Irving was out to do when he sued Deborah Lipstadt for her book on the Holocaust. In one courtroom scene, we watch as Irving attempts to explain that gas chambers were used to gas cadavers. Jackson uses a wealth of simple yet refined compositions, even when confronting disturbing realities.
We see Lipstadt, played by Rachel Weisz, framed to the far right of frame in a close-up before her lawyer, Richard Rampton begins his questioning of Irving. Jackson allows the moment to breath which affords the gravity of this line of questioning to settle into the viewer in a visceral way. We then watch as we get pull in focus from Irving to the judge as Irving states that the gas chambers were used to gas corpses. What lands on the audience from this imagery is that a man with a completely out of focus point of view on reality (Irving) is seen clearly by the judge in this moment.
When Lipstadt and Rampton go to Auschwitz they find themselves in a gas chamber where clothes were gassed from lice upon the arrival of the imprisoned Jewish people. Jackson allows the conflict of ideas between Lipstadt and her lawyer to boil over inside the chamber. This is a representation of the high intensity of the case and the personal nature of it for everyone involved who approach it in vastly different way. Jackson's filming of this scene allows us to see the friction between those on the same side, and it prepares us for an even greater grating as they move towards trial with Irving. These are examples of Jackson's visual interpretation of the script by David Hare that allow the film's content to be represented viscerally for the audience to experience.
