A Sombra de Stalin

I knew nothing about Gareth Jones or Duranty before this and thought it an excellent film. James Norton is as good as ever and the rest of the cast are excellent.

Superb filming of a terrible time in the development of communist USSR and the conditions that the peasant class had to endure. A must see if you're interested in history but don't expect any laughs or edge of the seat thrills.

... innocent comrades, as a result of tyrannical, incompetent and blinkered beliefs, in a system that still exists today bizarrely in some parts of the world. The famine of 1930s Russia and the man who bravely revealed those secrets presented in a down to earth and informative way with minimal poetic licence.

I'm very glad I stuck this one out.

It is a little slow at the beginning, but the moral clarity of this film really stands out. This is a true story that needs to be heard. It's a story of an undercover freelance journalist who was a great hero, though many people don't know his name. It's a story of how the New York Times and the other intellectual elites in the 1930s defended one of the most evil regimes in history. It's a story of the naivety of so many well-meaning people. It's a story of the unspeakable evil of communism. These are stories you won't usually hear from Hollywood, but someone had the balls to make this.

The only negatives of this film are some obvious lacking in production value at times. But this is made up by surprisingly terrific acting and some extraordinarily effective scenes portraying the great evils of communism.

The Allies had to Eat a Lot of Crow while Looking the Other Way and Knowingly Suppress the Willful Starvation of Millions by Stalin.

A Sociopathic Dictator that was as Evil as Anything Humanity had to Endure.

To Win the Fight Against the Nazis and Japan for World Dominance, it was Decided to Allow Stalin to do What Stalin Did Without Interference.

This is the Story of a Naive but Brave Journalist, Gareth Jones, who Ended-Up Paying the Ultimate Price for being a Truth-Teller.

And His Uncovering First-Hand the Deliberate Starvation of Millions in and around Ukraine in the Soviet Union.

He Tries to Get Someone, Anyone to Believe what He has Seen to get the World to Oppose such Mass Murder.

Politics, Greed, and Self-Preservation were Opposing His Every Effort and the Movie Tells His Story in a Personal and Compelling Montage of Boardrooms, Trains, and Captivity.

The Enormous Human Toll is so Devastating and Horrendous, the Story-Telling can Never Really Capture the Heart-Breaking Suffering of the Population.

But it has to be Attempted Now and Then to Remind the World of the Evil Around Us and to Shed Light on the Darkest Deeds Done Right Before Our Eyes and the Consequences of Doing Nothing.

The Film is Captivating, Consuming, and Frustrating with an All-Too-Real-Feel that Brings the Story Home for Us to See a Relatively Unknown Event and is only so, because We Let it Be Unknown.

Sadly, Almost a Century After it Should Have Been Known.

It felt a bit like 'Spotlight' transported back into the 1930s USSR. It sees journalist Gareth Jones traveling to Ukraine, and discovering the horrors of Stalin's man-made famine. This is the first film I've seen depicting this particular atrocity, despite learning about it (and the Holocaust) in school.

The film certainly shifted intensity once Gareth finds a way to reach Ukraine and slowly discovers the conditions firsthand. Numerous scenes will be etched in my memory - fruit on a train, a crying baby, singing children, "Kolya" and a footchase through snow-covered forest. It was intense. Some viewers will probably start feeling some of the hunger themselves.

James Norton delivered a really strong performance as Gareth Jones. Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard were great in supporting roles too. Peter Sarsgaard seems to be seriously typecast as the sleazeball villain in everything these days.

The film follows the story of Gareth Jones as much as it does the famine itself, interceded with appearances of George Orwell. It's the first film I've seen by director Agnieszka Holland and I'm impressed! Will keep a lookout for her future work. Disappointing "Mr Jones" has somehow slipped under the radar for many. Definitely recommend this to those after a powerful, though-provoking film depicting real-life events.