Denial Page #10

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4747.

RAMPTON:

Shame.

RAMPTON pushes the glass across to her with one finger.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

I have a terrible fear that if I’d

been asked to draw up those plans,

I might have agreed. Out of sheer

weakness.

DEBORAH:

That’s honest of you to say so.

RAMPTON:

Just a fact. The world is full of

cowards and I’m one of them.

There’s a line of Goethe’s. “Der

Feige droht nur, wo er sicher ist.”

“The coward only threatens when he

feels secure.”

DEBORAH:

I thought you didn’t speak German.

RAMPTON shrugs, modest.

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

You’ve learnt German? In the last

year?

RAMPTON:

How else was I to master the

documents? Irving has a forty-year

start on me. I’ve had to try and

catch up.

DEBORAH:

And have you?

RAMPTON:

No.

There is a trace of self-mockery in this chilly exchange.

RAMPTON pours two more shot glasses.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

We’ll get a trial date soon. Nine-

tenths of court craft is

preparation.

DEBORAH looks at him a moment, thoughtful.

DEBORAH:

You haven’t taken my statement yet.

RAMPTON:

No. No, I haven’t.

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4848.

DEBORAH:

Why is that?

RAMPTON:

Anthony hasn’t talked to you?

DEBORAH shakes her head.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

Very well. We made a couple of

decisions.

DEBORAH:

Tell me.

RAMPTON:

First, we decided we don’t want to

put the case before a jury. We

think it’s safer to do it before a

judge.

DEBORAH:

A single judge?

RAMPTON:

Yes.

DEBORAH:

Everything depending on one man? Is

that a good idea?

RAMPTON shrugs.

RAMPTON:

We’re worried about what antics

Irving might get up to with an

audience of twelve.

DEBORAH:

I’m surprised it’s our choice.

RAMPTON:

It’s not. We have to get Irving to

agree.

DEBORAH:

Why would he do that?

RAMPTON:

Oh. We have a notion.

RAMPTON smiles to himself. DEBORAH doesn’t understand.

DEBORAH:

And the other one?

RAMPTON:

Sorry?

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 4949.

DEBORAH:

A couple of decisions, you said.

RAMPTON:

Oh yes of course.

RAMPTON looks at her, absent for a moment.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

We decided... Anthony and I both

think it would be better if you

didn’t testify.

DEBORAH:

I’m sorry?

RAMPTON:

That’s it. We don’t believe you

should testify.

There is a silence. DEBORAH is fixed on him. Then DEBORAH

reaches and pours herself another shot.

DEBORAH:

It’s me...

RAMPTON:

I know...

DEBORAH:

It’s me he’s chosen...

RAMPTON:

I’m aware of that.

DEBORAH:

Of all the people who’ve written

about him, David Irving has

targeted me. I have to defend

myself.

RAMPTON:

Of course. I know that’s how it

seems. But.

He stops, reluctant to go on.

DEBORAH:

What? I sit at my trial every day,

I listen to my reputation being

destroyed - someone attacks me,

attacks my work, my profession, my

integrity, and I say nothing? Is

that the idea?

RAMPTON opens his hands as if to say ‘Yes, that’s it.’

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 50.

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

Why? Because you don’t trust me?

RAMPTON:

No.

DEBORAH:

You think I might get emotional?

RAMPTON:

On today’s evidence...

DEBORAH:

We were at Auschwitz, Richard.

But RAMPTON looks right back at her.

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

Can I remind you: I teach, I

lecture, I talk to the press...

RAMPTON:

I know.

DEBORAH:

I order ideas. That’s what I do.

That’s what I’m good at. You think

you need to protect me?

RAMPTON:

I’m not protecting you, I’m

protecting our case. Our strategy

is to keep the focus on Irving and

Irving alone. The trial is not a

test of your credibility, it’s a

test of his.

DEBORAH looks at him, shaken.

DEBORAH:

You don’t think I’m good enough.

RAMPTON:

I haven’t said that. Irving's an

expert. He's a scholar.

DEBORAH:

And I’m not?

RAMPTON:

You're in a different field. You're

not a historian of the Third Reich.

RAMPTON waits. It’s on a knife-edge.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

Represent yourself. Go in the box.

Why not? Irving will be delighted.

(MORE)

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 51.

RAMPTON (CONT’D)

He’s got a huge dossier. Everything

you ever said or did. It’s what

he’s always wanted. To get his

hands on you and tear you apart.

DEBORAH:

And no doubt you think he’d

succeed? You don’t trust me.

RAMPTON is inscrutable, knowing this is a decisive moment.

RAMPTON:

Everything you have to say you said

in your book. Our task is to starve

Irving. Putting you on the stand

would feed him. The trial’s

happening to you, but it’s not

about you.

DEBORAH:

This man hates me. He's coming for

me. It’s personal. When someone

hates you, you take them on.

Silence. Then:

DEBORAH (CONT’D)

You know what people will say.

RAMPTON:

I’m afraid I do.

DEBORAH:

They’ll say I’m a coward. “She

didn’t dare go into the box,

because she knew she would lose.”

RAMPTON:

You’re right. They will say that.

DEBORAH:

I’ll have to live with that.

RAMPTON:

Yes. Yes. That’s the price you’ll

pay for winning.

72 EXT. HIGH COURT. DAY 72

The imposing facade. Underneath:

TRENCH (V.O.)

Mr Julius, is there any other

housekeeping we need to do before

we close the pre-trial hearing?

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 5252.

73 INT. HIGH COURT. DAY 73

A small room. Almost informal, just a single JUDGE, JOHN

TRENCH, 60s. IRVING, now 61, at one table, JULIUS at another,

in suit and tie, with LIBSON behind him.

JULIUS:

Just one question, my Lord.

TRENCH:

What is it?

JULIUS:

On our side, we’re beginning to

feel that for the layman this

particular subject may represent an

impossible challenge.

TRENCH:

I see. You’re asking to dispense

with a jury?

JULIUS:

We are, my Lord.

TRENCH:

Have you asked Mr Irving his views?

Mr Irving?

IRVING stirs, uncertain. But JULIUS modestly interrupts.

JULIUS:

Perhaps, before Mr Irving speaks?

TRENCH:

Go ahead.

JULIUS:

We all know:
Mr Irving has devoted

his life to the study of the Third

Reich. I admit myself to having

sometimes struggled with the

demands of the material. I wonder

if Mr Irving really believes that

it’s fair to ask the regular Joe or

Joan who walks in from the street

to grasp in a mere few weeks what

he himself has taken a life-time to

master.

IRVING is looking at him. Which way will be jump? Then:

IRVING:

I agree. The issues before the

court are sufficiently complex to

require the attention of a learned

judge, and too complex to confront

a jury with.

Full Blue Script // December 4th 2015 5353.

TRENCH:

Are you sure, Mr Irving?

IRVING:

Quite sure.

JULIUS looks, his bluff perfect.

TRENCH:

A trial by judge alone it is then.

74 INT. DEBORAH’S ROOM. ATHENAEUM HOTEL. DAY 74

DEBORAH is unpacking - unfamiliar adaptor plugs, guide books.

She’s thought of everything. Then a framed photo of herself

with The Mutt goes in pride of place. DAVID IRVING is on TV,

doing a respectful studio interview.

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