Mr. Jones is about the Welsh journalist Gareth Jones who exposed the truth about famine in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. It is directed by Agnieszka Holland and written by Andrea Chalupa. James Norton stars as Mr. Jones.
Holland has commented that lack of knowledge of this historical catastrophe is an injustice to the past that has to be redressed for the sake of our future. Chalupa’s family roots lie in the Ukraine, where some of the worst famine occurred, and her grandfather witnessed the Russian Revolution. She told Gaslit Nation: “Shortly before he passed away at the age of 83, my grandfather wrote down his life story, showing the events Orwell allegorized in Animal Farm through the eyes of a survivor. It was for my grandfather and the countless others who suffered under the Soviet regime that I wrote and produced Mr. Jones.”
In interviews Holland has said that the story of a young journalist as hero is relevant in 2020 at a time when we need to be reminded that journalism is about uncovering the truth.
This may account for what to me was the sometimes nostalgic way in which the film conjures up the idea of the intrepid reporter with the help of props such as a typewriter, old-fashioned camera, and notebook. But the way Jones is constantly questioning and figuring things out sets a great example for any aspiring journalist.
The key comparison the film throws up is between the dogged Mr. Jones, out in the field witnessing the horrors of the famine, and determined to find out the truth – compared with New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty, posting poorly-researched stories from the luxury of his hotel which eventually try to conceal the truth of the famine. Tellingly for Holland, it’s Duranty that gets a Pullitzer Prize, while Jones is dismissed by many as crazy.
I found the passion and commitment of Jones, in the face of disbelief and attempts to silence him, inspiring. I was also reminded that to be a great journalist sometimes requires you to confront danger and be willing to risk your life.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm was inspired by the facts that Jones uncovered, and this story of a man-made famine brings to mind the passage in Chapter 1 when the boar says: “Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.”