Two young gymnasts prepare for the Mass Games, one of North Korea's most important and elaborate events. Marked by its unprecedented access, this eye-opening film not only provides footage of the games themselves but it also shows the daily lives of people in one of the world's most closed societies.
The biggest value of the movie is the depiction of Pyongyang life, the elaborate Mass Games choreography, a wondrous road trip to the revered Mount Paektu, and the ideological mind-set of typical North Korean citizens.
Admirably non-judgmental docu about life in 'the least visited, known, understood country in the world,' per Brit director Daniel Gordon, brings a refreshing balance to the usual blind vilification of the country.
Will raise many more questions about totalitarianism, and about the foreign policies of Western countries with regard to North Korea, than it ever answers.
Thrusts you into the near-hypnotic mentality of a 1984-ish place. But once you return to [your] society . . . [look again at] those darkly concealing words, "freedom" and "democracy."
The documentary about life in North Korea sets the story of two girls against the backdrop of a huge tribute to leader Kim Jong Il, and it's the backdrop that is more compelling.
"State of Mind" is a documentary filmed in 2003 by a BBC film crew that was allowed unprecedented access in North Korea to follow two teenage gymnasts, Park Hyon Sun and Kim Sung Yun, as they train for the Mass Games, "a social realist extravagansa" performed to celebrate various anniversaries in the nation. It turns
out that people are pretty much the same wherever you go, just the circumstances and governments change. For example, North Korea's isolation allows it to control the information it hands out to the citizens. And the society is shaped around a very extreme cult of personality. But the documentarians try too hard to make a political statement, and that especially shows in the heavy-handed narration.(Narration should only be used to impart information, not to do a play-by-play.) They needed to let the viewers come to their own conclusions.(Whatever you think of the politics, you have to admit Communists know how to put on a show. Whereas, anarchists usually field the better softball teams...)
January 23, 2007
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
This film delves deep into North Korea's lifestyle and a great movie to come out of its kind. A look at the gymnist from korea and how her life shaped in a true story of a great wonderful gymnist. Korea is a culture all its own and a film worth having.
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