Mr. Jones
Release date: 2019-10-03
Votes: 447
Genres: Thriller, Drama, History
In 1933, Welsh journalist Gareth Jones travels to Ukraine, where he experiences the horrors of a famine. Everywhere he goes he meets henchmen of the Soviet secret service who are determined to prevent news about the catastrophe from getting out. Stalin’s forced collectivisation of agriculture has resulted in misery and ruin—the policy is tantamount to mass murder.
Reviews
SWITCH.
A taut and stark thriller, one part espionage, one part survival, this is an extremely powerful true story, and one that has generally slipped under the radar. We are lucky that someone as talented as Agnieszka Holland took the helm of 'Mr Jones'. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-mr-jones-a-chilling-true-story
CinemaSerf
James Norton delivers really quite well here as the journalist who stumbles upon and exposes one of the worst atrocities of Stalin's Soviet regime. Deep amidst the poverty-stricken Steppe, he gradually becomes aware that the dissolution of the traditional small-holding style of family farm in favour of the creation of potentially more yielding grand scale operations is failing - and failing badly. Needless to say, this isn't news that the authorities wish to be conveyed to the wider world, and so his exploration becomes steadily more perilous. Fortunately, he has a degree of diplomatic status and he does try to be fair with his reporting. On the face of it, the plan had merits - greater space to exploit, centralised harvesting, centralised everything, basically. What went wrong? Well, those aspects of "Holodomor" as it became known aren't really explained so well here, so at times the lack of recorded fact leaves the historical elements frustratingly scantily dealt with. Still, the dramatic ones work well with Peter Sarsgaard on good form as is Vanessa Kirby and the clearly rather more objective approach to this tragedy taken by director Angieszka Holland presents us with the template of a catastrophe and let's us reach some conclusions about complicity of and/or the domination of a doctrine for ourselves rather potently. The effects and results are there, but the causes - well maybe that's not so straightforward than propagandists on either side might prefer us to think. It's largely filmed on location and that, paired with some intimate photography and a persuasive score from Antoni Lazarkiewicz, adds a richness to this story and delivers up a film that provokes thought and ought to stoke an interest in a famine that's probably little known of nowadays.
Movie Recommendation
Me Too2012-09-07Five passengers - the Bandit, his friend Matvei, Matvei's old father, the Musician, and a young woman - race along an empty road in a big black jeep, searching for the Belfry of Happiness which, according to hearsay, lies somewhere between St. Petersburg and the town of Uglich, near a deserted nuclear power station. The Belfry takes people, but it does not take everyone. Each of the five passengers believes that he or she will be chosen.More...
The Reports on Sarah and Saleem2018-03-15The affair of a married Palestinian man and a married Israeli woman in Jerusalem takes a dangerous political dimension when they are spotted in the wrong place at the wrong time, leaving them to deal with more than their broken marriages.More...
Flesh and Bone1993-11-05Haunted by memories of his father murdering a family, Arlis Sweeney prefers to keep to himself, focusing his energy on his work. One day, the traumatic past that eats away at him returns when he meets Kay Davies, a woman connected to the bloody event. Against all odds, Arlis and Kay fall in love; however, when his father, Roy, reappears in his life -- with the coldhearted Ginnie in tow -- Arlis must deal with his past demons.More...
Vigilantes INC. - America's New Vote Suppression Hitmen2024-09-06Vigilantes Inc.: America’s New Vote Suppression Hitmen The 2024 election is in danger: 8,500 self-proclaimed vigilante vote-fraud hunters have already challenged the rights of 851,000 voters of color. Investigative reporter Greg Palast (Guardian/Rolling Stone) hunts down the MAGA vigilantes including one dressed like Doc Holliday—with his loaded 6-guns—who blocked the vote of 4,000 Black soldiers including MAJ Gamaliel Turner. Palast and Major Turner confront the vote rustlers in scenes humorous, weird and dangerous.More...
Icarus. The Legend of Mietek Kosz2019-10-18Inspired by true events, a story of a blind grand piano genius. As a child Mietek loses his sight. His mother places him in the care of the nuns in Laski. At the centre for the blind the boy discovers that music may be his way of seeing the world again and of describing it. Mietek goes on to become a brilliant classical pianist. Once he discovers jazz music, though, he has only one goal left: to become the best jazz pianist in Poland. He is more and more successful, not only in Poland but around the world. He wins the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival. Unexpectedly, a charismatic vocalist, Zuza, walks into his life. This meeting will change it forever.More...
The Hostage Takers2023-03-18Danish photographer Daniel Rye is one of the main characters in a nerve-wracking hostage drama based on a shocking interview with two life-sentenced British ISIS members in a confrontation with journalist Sean Langan.More...
Bootlegger2021-10-08Mani, a master’s student, returns to the reserve in northern Quebec where she grew up. Her painful past resurfaces. Resolved to reintegrate into the community, she gets involved in the debate around a referendum on allowing the free sale of alcohol on the reserve. Laura, a bootlegger, pockets the profits she makes there under the protection of the band council and her partner Raymond. The latter is still angry with Mani, whom he holds responsible for the death of his daughter in a fire. Opposing forces quickly divide the community into two sides who face each other to determine the best path to independence.More...
The Guide2014-11-12American boy Peter and blind minstrel Ivan are thrown together by fate amidst the turbulent mid-30s Soviet Ukraine.More...
Censored2019-09-05This is a metaphorical story about the tragic and mysterious death of the most powerful poet of 1960s, human rights activist, hero of Ukraine Vasyl Stus and his struggle with the Soviet system. The events of the film unfold during the last attempt by the KGB to seduce the poet with a whimsical "freedom".More...
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond1960-02-03Jack Diamond and his sickly brother arrive in prohibition New York as jewelry thieves. After a spell in jail, the coldly ambitious Diamond hits on the idea of stealing from thieves himself and sets about getting close to gangster boss Arnold Rothstein to move in on his booze, girls, gambling, and drugs operations.More...
Köyhä laulaja1950-04-28Sisters Irma and Airi Ranna's café Iltatähti has run into financial trouble. Touring musicians Heikki and Jussi end up as tenants in the same boarding house where the siblings and the poetic accountant live. Since the landlady does not allow music in her nursing home, the musicians practice at Iltatähti and revolutionize the life of the cafe.More...
Gabriel and the Mountain2017-08-30Before entering a prestigious American university, Gabriel Buchmann decides to travel the world for one year. After ten months on the road with his backpack full of dreams, immersed at the heart of various countries, he arrives in Kenya determined to discover the African continent. Until he reaches the top of Mount Mulanje, Malawi, his final destination.More...
The Truce1997-02-14After the liberation of Auschwitz, an Italian prisoner of War begins a torturous voyage home to Turin, through a Europe caught between war and peace.More...
Good Mourning2022-05-20Movie star London Clash gets his world turned upside down when he must choose between pursuing his one true love and landing a life-changing starring role in a major motion picture.More...
Borderline2014-10-05A police superintendent, after 25 years of a flawless professional career, is arrested by internal affairs for 4 days, before being indicted for criminal conspiracy, drug trafficking, theft and embezzlement by the magistrate in charge.More...
The Scarlet and the Black1983-02-02Fr. Hugh O'Flaherty is a Vatican official in 1943-45 who has been hiding downed pilots, escaped prisoners of war, and Italian resistance families. His activities become so large that the Nazis decide to assassinate him the next time he leaves the Vatican.More...
Josep2020-09-30February 1939. Overwhelmed by the flood of Republicans fleeing Franco's dictatorship, the French government's solution consists in confining the Spanish refugees in concentration camps where they have no other choice than to build their own shelters, feed off the horses which have carried them out of their country, and die by the hundred for lack of hygiene and water... In one of these camps, two men, separated by barbwire, will become friends. One is a guard the other is Josep Bartoli (Barcelona 1910 - New York 1995), a cartoonist who fights against the Franco regime.More...
Fantasies2021-08-18Faced with their fantasies, six couples try to explore the hidden sides of their intimate life. Six questions on access to pleasure. From role play to abstinence, via exhibition, six separate stories with the same questioning of desire today in the center.More...
Hope Gap2019-10-03Grace lives an idyllic life in a British seaside town, but her world soon comes crashing down when her husband of 29 years tells her he's leaving her for another woman. Through stages of shock, disbelief and anger -- and with support from her son -- Grace ultimately regains her footing while learning it's never too late to be happy.More...
Daniel Isn't Real2019-12-06A troubled college freshman resurrects his imaginary friend to help him cope with a violent trauma.More...
Similar Movies
Butterfly
1999-09-24The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.When Night Falls
2007-09-20A thriller set in 1932 about two nurses trapped in a country mansion with their invalid patient whilst a killer is on the loose. A series of unexplainable events start to occur and the nurses begin to wonder if they are no longer alone.The Wave
1981-10-04A teacher conducts an experiment in an American high school where students learn how easy it is to be seduced by the same social forces which led to the horrors of Nazi Germany.The Kill Team
2019-10-17When Andrew Briggman — a young soldier in the US Army during the invasion of Afghanistan — witnesses the murderous behavior of fellow soldiers, under the direction of a malevolent Sergeant, he faces a moral dilemma. His increasingly-violent platoon becomes suspicious that someone in their ranks has turned on them, and Andrew begins to fear for his safety. A fictionalized dramatization based on a true story.Whispering Sidewalks
1936-01-01Inada plays Betty Yoshida, a singer and dancer from America who arrives in Japan to go on tour, only to be swindled by scheming managers. Penniless and cast to the streets, Betty is taken in by Oki (Nakagawa), a talented tap dancer who introduces her to a group of struggling musicians living and working together.Emperor of the North
1973-05-23Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.Mrs. Soffel
1984-12-26Kate Soffel is married to a prison warden in Pittsburgh, and is the mother of their four children. Ed Biddle is a convicted murderer awaiting execution on death row with his brother Jack. When Kate meets Eddie through her Bible readings to the prisoners, she is drawn to him, and they pursue a clandestine relationship. She agrees to help the brothers escape, and begins a treacherous journey with them to freedom in Canada.Freeway Killer
2009-11-04For years he terrorized California motorists as he rode the endless highways searching for his next victim. The discarded bodies turned up beaten, sexually assaulted and horribly mutilated. Deceptively charming and intelligent, the scheming murderer easily avoided police at first. But as police closed in and the killer’s pattern grew more erratic, the only question was how many more will die?Green Book
2018-11-16Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.Manson: Summer of Blo...
2024-03-25In the final, terrifying chapter of the most infamous crime of the 20th century, a dying Charles Manson is offered a chance to repent for his crimes, revealing horrific, never-before-seen details about the Sharon Tate murders—as well as a shocking twist.Hope and Glory
1987-09-03A middle-aged man recalls his childhood growing up in and around London during World War II.Inserts
1975-02-20A young, once-great Hollywood film director refuses to accept changing times during the early 1930s, and confines himself to his decaying mansion to make silent porn flicks.The Chocolate War
1988-11-18Jerry, a new student at an elite Catholic prep school, must face the hazing practices handed down by the Vigils, a group of powerful students. When teacher Brother Leon pushes the students to sell chocolates for a fundraiser, the head of the Vigils, Archie, gets Jerry to reject selling for 10 days. However, Jerry decides to keep up the refusal past the original time frame, which pits him against the Vigils and the school staff.The Boys of St. Vince...
1994-06-03The true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage, run by a religious community in Newfoundland.Centigrade
2022-06-16A young American couple travel to the arctic mountains of Norway. After pulling over during a snowstorm, they wake up trapped in their SUV, buried underneath layers of snow and ice.The Rescue
2021-10-08The enthralling, against-all-odds story that transfixed the world in 2018: the daring rescue of twelve boys and their coach from deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.California Love
2021-10-17Leon Watkins runs a community helpline in South Central LA, where anyone in need of help is welcome. One of his most frequent visitors is local gang leader, John Wesley Hunter, otherwise known as “Joker” to the streets. After a day of hustling and almost losing his life in a shoot-out, Joker goes to the one place where he knows he can get help. All in a typical day’s work for Leon until an unlikely woman shows up insisting on aiding him in his fight for his community. This unlikely team defies social constructs by working together to actively fight oppression and gain nation-wide recognition for a hidden reality of many. Along their way they experience the deep-seeded hatred that has plagued America, great love, and tragedy as they leave behind a legacy.Blaze
2018-08-17Inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw country movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film weaves together three periods in Blaze's life, exploring his love affair with Sybil Rosen; his last, dark night on Earth; and the impact his songs and his death had on his fans, friends, and foes.American Animals
2018-06-01Lexington, Kentucky, 2004. Four young men attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in the history of the United States.The Boy in the Woods
2023-09-19The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.