"Mister Jones" is a 2019 biographical thriller film[5] directed by Agnieszka Holland.

Historically not fully accurate.

The script was written by an American screenwriter of Ukrainian origins, who sent it directly to the director.

Holland

Holland is a Polish director, born in 1948.

It was during her time in Prague and in prison that she realized "she'd rather be an artist than an agitator".

She began her career as assistant to directors Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda, before migrating from Poland to France in 1981, just before the imposition of the martial law in Poland.

She's known for "Europa, Europa" which depicts the horrors of the nazi regime against jews, "The Secret Garden", episodes of popular series like "House of Cards". Other works includes screenwriting of "Danton".

Warning notice: the movie has strong images which can disturb.

Journalism

cf: "All The President’s Men" and "Spotlight"

Interview

  • The authoritarian Nazis and Stalinian regimes "are the keys of our modernity".
  • "Dangers of the economical crises, raise of the populism, etc"
  • Communist crimes are less exposed than the nazis'
  • The question about the media, [...], the corruption of the media, is crucial for the survival of our democracies
  • Felt some kind of urgency when she read the script
  • After the fall of the iron curtain these seem to have been forgotten
  • Today, the methods how to feed and manipulate the fear, how to lie to the people, use media to spread political and ideological agenda, is very similar today, except that it's done with incredible impact and in speed of light with Internet.
  • Lesson: Be careful and courageous, even if it doesn't pay off immediately.

Final note

The film gives some clue about historical events that are important to understand the war in Ukraine, which started 3 years after the release of this movie. The topic being now so hot because of the war, one important question now is whether Holland's movie is at the same level of integrity that she highlights for journalists - or it is even possible not to take side in this kind of conflict.