Mr. Jones

 

In Agnieszka Holland’s gripping historical drama, a British journalist and erstwhile diplomat travels to Stalin’s Soviet Union in the 1930s to find out just where all the country’s economic growth is coming from, and discovers one of the great crimes of the 20th century — the mass starvation of Ukrainians, a holocaust that killed millions and was largely covered up by the press at the time. What starts as a kind of staid period piece gradually dissolves into a harrowing nightmare with images of unspeakable brutality. Director Holland never quite gets the credit she deserves — she made several masterful films in her native Poland before fleeing communism in the 1980s. Her work since has been equally powerful, and Mr. Jones is a fine addition to her impressive body of work.