“Mr. Jones” 2019

A new film about a forgotten genocide makes for inspirational viewing.

Legendary Polish director Agnieszka Holland has come out with a thoughtful, elegant new film, “Mr. Jones,” addressing the 1932-33 Ukrainian Holodomor, or forced famine. I watch a lot of movies, and I’ve seen many addressing atrocity. “Mr. Jones” wrecked me. I fought back sobs, and also the urge to thrust my fist through the screen and destroy the film’s slimy villains. Compared to numerous other films addressing humanity’s dark side, “Mr. Jones” depicts virtually no onscreen gore. This is not atrocity porn. “Mr. Jones” is two hours long, and yet scenes of the actual famine take up only about half an hour – and it’s a quiet, monochromatic half hour. This film most frequently depicts well-dressed, well-fed people talking. With just that, Holland was able to move me more deeply than many a more graphic film. In 2019, innovative horror director Ari Aster released “Midsommer,” shot almost entirely in bright sunshine. Aster wanted to see if he could terrify people without hackneyed jump scares in old, dark houses. Holland has done what Aster was trying to do. “Mr. Jones” is a lowkey, polite, non-horror movie that utterly horrified me.

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