MR. JONES - AGNIESZKA HOLLAND INTERVIEW ( DIRECTOR)
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James Norton as Gareth Jones in, Mr. Jones
Filmmaker Agnieszka Holland brings us another look at Europe’s dark past with, Mr Jones.
Director Agnieszka Holland is well known for her films exploring the darker chapters in Europe’s history, such as WWII and the Holocaust.
Although she didn’t want to go back to that time period, Holland was fascinated when presented with the script for her latest film Mr. Jones, set around The Holodomor,, a man-made famine that caused millions of deaths and ravaged Soviet Ukraine between 1932 and 1933.
Holland with star James Norton
In 1933, Gareth Jones ( played by James Norton) is an ambitious young journalist who has gained some renown for his interview with Adolf Hitler. Thanks to his connections to Lloyd George, the former Prime Minister, he is able to get official permission to travel to the Soviet Union. Jones intends to try and interview Stalin and find out more about the Soviet Union's economic expansion and its apparently successful five-year development plan.
Jones is restricted to Moscow, but jumps his train and travels unofficially to Ukraine to discover evidence of the Holodomor, including empty villages, starving people, cannibalism, and the enforced collection of grain. On his return to the UK he struggles to get his story taken seriously. The film ends by recording that Jones died in Mongolia on a return visit to the USSR, not knowing that his guide was employed by the Soviet secret service.
I spoke with Agnieszka Holland about why she wanted to tell this story and what she hopes audiences will take from it. Check out our interview below.