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A State of Mind (2004) More at IMDbPro »
30 out of 36 people found the following comment useful :-
Excellent, 30 April 2005
Author: td2036 from United States
The most interesting comment from director Daniel Gordon at the Tribeca Film Festival's screening of this movie was about the difficulties encountered in making this film, none of which came from state censors or anyone at all in North Korea. The most resistance came from Western entities (distributors, studios) that dismissed the film as inaccurate because it did not conform to their own notions of what life in North Korea was really like. The tone of this film, with the lives of two young gymnasts at its center, is straight-forward and unpreachy. Aside from brief glimpses of the obligatory posters condemning the U.S., masses in blue suits swearing allegiance to the socialist cause, and abundant references to the General, what we mostly see are the two girls and the intimate details of their lives, singing karaoke with their families, preparing for school in the morning, being chided for not eating their breakfast or doing their homework, and struggling through hours of exhausting gymnastic practice. There is also the spectacular, dizzying footage of the mass games, which alone would be worth the movie ticket. There was never the feeling that this is meant to be an "inside-look," even though the film does owe much of the fascination surrounding it to its subject matter. It was enlightening and entertaining to see what life is like in Pyongyang, but to approach this film as simply a bit of cultural curiosity is to miss the richer experience it offers, one that had me rooting and fretting for the two girls as they approach their final performance, and hoping that their wish to perform in front of the General comes true.
12 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Mass Games: A metaphor for the complete subordination of the individual to the state., 21 January 2006
Author: OCOKA from Chicago, IL
This is one of the most sophisticated and thought provoking documentaries I have ever seen on North Korea. Most anti-North Korean docus produced in the South are not very different from Dana Carvey channeling George H.W. Bush: 'North Korea bad, South Korea good'.
This documentary is completely different though, in that it presents from the mind's eye and lets you decide -- what all good docus should do. I especially loved how Daniel Gordon used a compelling soundtrack -- particularly in the final performance montage at the end -- to invoke a feeling of sympathy for the two characters -- Hyon Sun and Song Yun -- whose ardor in striving to attain perfection for "The General" is ultimately an exercise in futility and for naught.
Having to be submit to such mind-numbing discipline and undergo such a complete loss of individuality at such a tender age in order to entertain the higher-ups of the Communist Party is the metaphor Gordon uses to describe life in this repressive Stalinist state that should not be lost amongst the glitz and glamor of the so-called "Mass Games."
9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Idiot critics, 16 August 2006
Author: rob-1582 from Ottawa, Canada
I just saw this movie and really enjoyed it.
To those who are criticizing the makers of the film for not revealing the horrific "truth" about North Korea, it's worth pointing out that politicizing the film would have resulted in 1) the film crew's Korean minders being thrown in jail (they are responsible for making sure that the film doesn't reflect negatively on the state), not to mention the extended families of the minders, 2) most probably both girls & their families also being jailed, and 3) pretty much any other Korean people who show up in the film also, being thrown in jail.
Jail in North Korea is very, very ugly and I imagine many people don't live long there.
Rather than have everyone they ever interviewed possibly tortured and killed, the film's creators wisely chose to criticize the North Korea state only in an oblique manner, simply by stating the truth and avoiding controversial topics. Had they not, aside from the consequences to their subjects, they would never have been allowed to set foot in the country again.
Yes, the girls and their families are the elite of the state. Frankly, I live better than that, and I'm not rich. If they're the elite, the country must be in rough shape.
I'm just glad we were able to see so much of what daily life is like (in Pyongyang). Extended footage like this from inside the country is very rare.
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Great Film, 16 August 2008
Author: mexluver05 from United States
Since the only comments that have been posted on this film are negative, I wanted to put something positive. First off I am fascinated with countries and the ways of life other then what Im used too. This film let an insider see what its like in a country that only exists with in itself without all of the trends, and the typical attitudes by the people you will find in the USA. I can understand their hatred and frustration towards "the land of the free" and it was just magical to me to see what these people are about and what they truly stand for and what they believe. My argument has always been the US wouldn't like it if other nations invaded them and tried to control their way of life so why do they think they can do it to other nations. Whose Washington to say North Koreas wrong?? When it all comes down too it united states citizens are just as brainwashed as any other nation about what is right or wrong but the film is very good and it gives you a look at a country that is basically a secret to the western world.
5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A State of Mind - not quite what it seems, 31 December 2006
Author: milli-mi from New Zealand
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
A State of Mind (2004) has to be one of the best documentaries I've seen for a long time, in part because it is told from a viewpoint we often don't get to hear from: schoolgirls in North Korea.
Though the film was essentially following two schoolgirls preparing for, and participating in, North Korea's Mass Games the aspect of the documentary that I found fascinating wasn't so much the Mass Games themselves but the daily lives of the schoolgirls and their family. Sure, there are the unnerving elements such as the harsh gymnastics routines interrupted only by the impromptu singing about the Dear Leader and the "once in a lifetime" visit to the most sacred site in North Korea - Mt Paektu-San - but the impressive side was that their lives weren't as far removed from that of any other functional family in any other part of the world as one would expect.
Their lifestyle was fairly Spartan compared to most Western families (no video games, computers or DVD players in these households) but the closeness of the family and their evident appreciation and enjoyment of each other's company from their times relaxing in a park to visiting extended family on a collective farm was touching. However, there were also veiled criticisms of North Korean life but it required having to listen carefully as the comments were rather veiled. In particular, some of the comments made by the parents related to recent tough times when food was in short supply and of poor quality.
In itself, such a comment means very little to an audience in a Western democracy but, in North Korea, such a comment could've had the family sent to a concentration camp for implying that North Korea was not always the land of plenty.
It's true this documentary is full of propaganda but it certainly isn't a propaganda film aimed at painting North Korea in a positive light. It is as honest as a documentary made in one of the most repressive police states in the world could be. For this reason, it is a cut above virtually every other documentary made about North Korea and should be seen.
6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
For the general, 11 October 2006
Author: za_kannushi from Aarhus, Denmark
I agree with what most posters say about this movie. Yes, the film does not show any of the real horrors of the country. What it shows is what the North Korean government would allow, and nothing else.
But the film also gives a rare insight into the (few) people whose lives in some ways can be compared to the lives of people in other countries. But where we have film stars, pop singers, authors, intellectuals and other role models that present us with diversified views on life, they (the affluent minority) have only one philosophy, and that is Kim Jong Il. They have no alternative religions, politics, philosophies, myths, icons, legends, thoughts or anything else.
What is interesting about the film is that it gives us an insight into the lives of those who are relatively well off in a totalitarian regime. And it is clear that the movie is made by people who do not live in that same regime. The filmmakers look at the human, 'weak' side of these people instead of just showing these people as role models. The North Korean government would see these people as becoming a glorious unified whole during these games. We see them as robots and slaves to a corrupt regime that doesn't care about them.
It is like British people visiting and making documentaries about the Nazi-devotees in the late 30s Germany. We know what is going on behind the scene, but the devotion and naivety shown by the people on screen is almost just as frightening, since these people could be ourselves under similar circumstances.
3 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Fantastic viewing, 17 July 2006
Author: sam from New Zealand
This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. A fascinating insight, warts and all, into North Korea. It shows the highly regimented lives the Nth Koreans live, from the propaganda infused television to the speaker piping rhetoric into the family home. But aside from this you see the human side of the people. The mother telling her daughter to eat more breakfast to make her strong, and the two main characters sneaking into school due to there being late. The focus of the film is the build up to the Mass Games in which 6000 people perform highly orchestrated and ornate display in front of their beloved General, who failed to turn up. And boy what a climax. A fantastic film, and a lesson to the contrary of the constant demonising from the west.
4 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A new look at the secretive state., 24 July 2006
Author: dy158 from Singapore
I only began to know a bit more about North Korea thanks to my school's past social studies and history classes, where at both times the Korean War was mentioned and being discussed. It was like few years back, but at times it kept ringing in my head.
Maybe because since some time back, there has been those news reports on the tearful reunions and meetings between the ordinary families of the two Koreas. And also with all that 'Korea wave' happening (in terms of its pop culture especially) and the media liberation in South Korea, she is slowly starting to present some of its darkest moments in its history onto the screen.
Just like before the start of the documentary which I saw on the Discovery Channel, it stated that North Korea is the least visited, least known, and the least understood nation in the world. I have to agree with my heavy heart, it's true. Speaking from someone who was once a History student, it's very saddening to at times for me to read of stories of how life is like in North Korea through the papers. It's not that I want to condemn the western media, but then the world is just like that.
Are you able to determine where you should be born? If you are born into a country which has a very different system of government which may deemed so-called 'evil' to the outside world, there is no way out. Unless you know how to do something about it.
This documentary follows two girls (one belonging to the workers' class and the other - the intellectuals' class) being raised in different backgrounds in the capital of Pyongyang, and how they are preparing for their country's most spectacular and well-known event to the outside world - the Mass Games. It's kind of interesting to know that in the country itself, it has three classes - the peasants, the workers, and the intellectuals.
For all those who said that this documentary is all about propaganda and stuff like that - open your eyes, please. Which is why I said earlier it's not that I don't want to condemn the western media on their portraying of the secretive state actually. I kind of know the feeling, because living here in Singapore for my entire life, I am more or less aware how those western media at times see us. Making all our democratic system of government sounding as if it's not what a democratic country should be. As it's often being said - 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.' How can you expect everyone to follow your style of democracy?
Back to the case of North Korea. It's kind of like a big opener to know how living in the capital is like and how kids like one of the girls being featured for this documentary went about in their daily school life. Maybe ordinary Americans may kind of wonder why the North Koreans as being shown in this documentary always blame them for whatever faults they have (like one of the families blaming the Americans for their constant blackout in the house), but then it's like, I don't know...the North Koreans are being brought up in a way that America is their biggest enemy and it stands everything what they disagree upon.
It's all comes back to a case of ideology. History has shown us what communism can do as it does for Russia and its eastern European neighbours once. But in the case of North Korea, its citizens had been taught to think in that manner. I know propaganda is involved, given it showed how they really respect their leader.
Sadly, propaganda is everywhere, though we may not want to admit it at times. I had heard the propaganda word umpteen times in my past History classes that I don't even want to think about it. We should at least count ourselves lucky we are living in a civilised world.
Overall, this is one documentary which shows how life is like in one of the least visited, least known...and the least understood nations in the world.
4 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Forget about communist brainwashing.........., 28 November 2005
Author: highflying_falcon from Sydney, Australia
Wow, I was channel surfing when I hit this this documentary and can I say that I wish I had watched the beginning of this wonderfully directed and choreographed documentary. It was a real shame that I only got to watch the second half of this film and I cannot stop kicking myself for missing so much.
I had always heard and seen some footages of what they refer to as the "lavish Mass Games" in North Korea but never really quite understood what the purpose of the whole event was. It was this documentary that opened my eyes to the world and life that the North Koreans close off to the rest of the world.
I'll admit there was quite a lot of North Korean propaganda involved in the content of this film such as the comments they make about the "Great General", but most most importantly I got to see what life must be like for ordinary North Koreans due to restrictions with what foreign broadcasters could show the outside world.
Of course this film doesn't show to the full extent of what other North Koreans have to live through, but the story of two North Korean girls was a very touching story of their determination and will to contribute to their nations greatness and power.
If I could get another chance to see this film I will watch it in a flash.
2 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
North Korea's Leni Riefenstahl??, 6 April 2007
Author: k_arent_lee from United States
If Daniel Gordon made films that didn't take place in North Korea, we'd probably never notice them. His often tedious, straightforward style seems to fit in with North Korea's propagandistic notions of what makes a good film. Gordon's films are watchable only because he has incredible access to one of the most closed societies in the world. People are fascinated by North Korea and will watch almost anything that comes out of there if only to learn more about what makes the place tick. "A State of Mind" is a mediocre film about what it means to be loyal to Kim Jong Il and Gordon merely tells it like it is which is commendable. But Gordon's use of voice-over and his very sedentary style of filming bog the film down. His almost-exclusive access to North Koreans' daily life will give him a niche for years to come or at least until the North Korean government collapses. One also wonders, however, if Gordon might one day be accused of being the Leni Riefenstahl of North Korean film-making. Riefenstahl was the infamous filmmaker who made propaganda films for Adolf Hitler. Her most famous one is titled, "Triumph of the Will" and, after WWII until she died just a few years ago, she was forced to deal with the legacy of having propped up a leader who is about the closest thing to the devil the world has ever seen. Gordon's closeknit ties to the North Korean regime and his attempts to portray North Korea as a normal country with people who are healthy and happy could land him in hot water someday especially since rumours now swirl about death camps in the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and there is absolutely no doubt that labor camps for political prisoners already exist.
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