I often review TV shows or films I have watched that are light-hearted, witty and create a form of escapism for the viewer to enjoy outside of their day-to-day life. However, after recently watching the documentary ‘Jim: the James Foley Story’, I thought it was important to give some more commemoration to someone who seemed to be an amazing man and whose life was taken awfully too soon.
The documentary tells the story of James Foley, a war correspondent who was kidnapped by ISIS in Syria in 2012 and then executed. The great thing about this feature-length documentary though, is that it focuses purely on Jim’s life. His brothers and family recollect life with him as a child, how he was spontaneous, always late to everything and had the ability to sleep everywhere. His colleagues, with whom he spent time in the Middle East with recall his passion to push himself to the limits and those with who he was held captive recall his kindness, compassion and complete self-lessness during their time together.
Jim’s first daunting experience is recollected as the time when he gets taken hostage by the Libyan government for 44 days with two other journalists. These experiences are drawn upon from news reports as well as on a more personal level by his brother Michael who was the driving force behind a campaign for his brothers’ freedom. After his release, Michael tells a story of how he went to Libya and saw Jim for the first time and they ordered pizza, drank Heineken, and stayed up all night talking – a sweet and poignant recollection that seemed to keep Michael grounded during the interview and documentary making process.
It is not until Jim decides to go to Syria, to film the situation of the lives of the people there during the Arab Spring and the fight against the Asaad regime that things turn bad for Jim and British photography journalist, John. The situation seems to develop to become much more complicated with the implications of the involvement of ISIS, although the Middle Eastern politics isn’t discussed in great detail during the documentary, which is almost a good thing so as to not move away from the focus on Jim and his life.
Jim and John are held captive for a year together before moving to be held with other journalists from around the world. The documentary speaks to two French and one Danish journalist, Daniel who was held in the same room as Jim. They recall stories of him giving up his clothing, managing to hide dates in his pockets when they were moved about so no food went to waste and also the fact that Jim referred to everyone as ‘bro’.
One of the stories that really stuck in my mind was the tale of the board game they managed to create. It seemed to have brought them all so much joy in a time of pure anguish and hell. My favourite line came from Nicolas, the French journalist when he discusses how everyone came from all over the world: ‘it doesn’t matter if I say I love you in French or Japanese. It’s the feeling.’ It seemed that these feelings of love and family were what really kept these men together during this time.
As the documentary draws to a close, one by one other hostages get released due to successful negotiations between ISIS and their countries. It is revealed Jim said it was the ‘happiest day of his life’ when he got to leave the cell for ‘proof of life’ because it showed that his family were working on his release. When Daniel leaves, Jim asks him to take a message out with him. Despite being scared to take an actual letter with him, Daniel revises the words until they are engrained in his mind and sends it to his family.
The news will tell you the harrowing death of Jim – it does not need to be discussed here and, it isn’t discussed much in the documentary. The documentary celebrates the life of a man who seemed to thrive off his career and was also compassionate, selfless and full of love. Although awfully sad, this documentary is 100% worth watching as it tells a story of a man, who purely wanted to tell the story of others.
‘Jim: the James Foley Story’ is available to rent on amazon prime for £3.49 (it’s worth it!).