There are many journalist’s today, who forget their mission. It is to bring the truth to the people. It is not to give the truth as they see it. They often cover stories according to their own political beliefs. They could learn something about their profession, by watching Mr. Jones. It is a powerful story about a Welsh journalist, named Gareth Jones.
Mr. Jones is leading a comfortable life in London in the early 1930’s. He hears stories about a famine in Russia, particularly in the Ukraine. He manages to get into Russia and tries to get an interview with Josef Stalin. He is not successful, but does manage to talk to Walter. He is a British citizen living in Moscow. Gareth Jones talks to Walter at a party and gets a meeting with a Russian who has connections. He takes a train ride to the Ukraine, with a Russian escort. He knows his traveling companion, will not show him the bad things. He will get the state sponsored tour. Jones sneaks off the train, and gets on another one, with workers headed to where the grain is. He gets off and finds many examples of the famine.
He goes to a farmhouse where there are starving children. They survive by a means that is considered horrible by the standards of civilization. Jones encounters a group of children singing a song about Stalin. It is a haunting one about the dictator sitting on a throne and eating well while the people starve. He gets to a train depot, and sees workers loading grain onto the cars. When Jones inquires about the grain’s destination, the reply is Moscow.
This leads soldiers to chase after the inquisitive individual. He is captured, and threatened. Jones is told he will be taking a train out of Russia. There are British citizens, being held as spies. He is told they will be executed, if his famine story comes out. This brave journalist does not know what to do. That is until he meets another writer.
The person Jones encounters is George Orwell, played by Joseph Mawle. The future author of 1984 and Animal Farm, convinces him, that he must publish the story. It is published over the strong objections of prime minister, David Lloyd George, (Kenneth Cranham). The meeting between Jones and Lloyd is a powerful scene. The prime minister is upset because Britain is trying to establish diplomatic ties with Russia. He calls Jones a traitor to his country. Unfortunately the article does have repercussions for Jones. He has exposed a major leader who has committed an atrocity.
Mr. Jones shows a different type of courage. It is the willingness to expose the truth, no matter what. It is filmmaking of a type that exists, but it isn’t something that mainstream audiences by. The images presented by Agnienzka Holland are striking. The audience sees Moscow thriving and parties among the elite. Peter Sarsgaard is good in his role, playing Walter, a respected British citizen with a deviant streak. There is the dire poverty and hunger shown in the heartland of the Ukraine. The workers have anger in their faces when talking about all of the food going to Moscow. The images of the children are heartbreaking. James Norton stands out as Gareth Jones. He is a man who finds a heartbreaking story, and is saddened and shocked that it is repressed.
The famine story came out, but was brushed aside and nearly forgotten. Josef Stalin was a man who was a brutal dictator. He wielded enormous power, and his tyranny wasn’t known until after his death. This movie should be watched by anyone who wants a perspective on what effect lies and coverups can have on the truth. The director and the screenwriter, Andrea Chalupa did an exceptional job bring this horrendous tale of man’s inhumanity to man to the public.