I don't like to politicize my reviews. I have found that in practically ever land there are amazingly good films--regardless of the political tensions between my country and theirs. For example, although things are a bit tense now with Iran, this nation has made some wonderful films--such as the films of Majid Majidi which manage to transcend nations and ideologies. So, if you are willing to be open-minded and look, you can find good everywhere in my opinion. However, this is a difficult proposition with North Korea. They don't seem to be making movies and there simply is almost no opportunity to look into their culture to see what the nation is like, as there simply is almost nothing going in or out of this isolated nation. However, back about a decade or so ago, a few small glimpses occurred and "A State of Mind" is one of them*. Like it or not, for now this is all we appear to have from which we can learn about this nation. And, because of that, I think it's well worth seeing."A State of Mind" is a film made by a British production company. They were invited to the nation to follow several girls as they prepared for the 'Mass Games'. These games are ENORMOUS pageants in which many days of mass parades and performances are done to honor their leader. Some of these HUGE spectacles required 80,000 people and millions of man- hours according to the film!! The devotion and energy of the participants is difficult to imagine in our Western cultures and I would never imagine folks I know joining in a massive celebration in which the individual is sublimated to the glory of the State. It's just so very foreign--and this is what makes the film hard to stop watching. It is almost like looking onto an alien culture--and this is NOT meant as a criticism at all. What I liked best is that the narrators didn't over-narrate or opine about the nation. Instead, they mostly just showed the people and let them talk. Now I might have liked to have heard about the restrictions placed on the filmmakers--such as where they could and couldn't visit and questions they could or could not ask. But, this is really not all that important--what IS important is that it gives you a glimpse of what is going on in North Korea. See it and learn.By the way, the reason I didn't score this one a bit higher is that I do think that perhaps TOO MUCH of the parading was shown. It became tiresome to watch the girls practicing again and again and again and again for months. However, even this was interesting in a way--imagine how this was for these thousands and thousands of kids who did this! Wow....*Another documentary filmed in North Korea by Western filmmakers was National Geographic's "Inside North Korea"--about a group of doctors who came to the country to perform free eye surgery for many blind North Koreans. It is fascinating--perhaps more so than "A State of Mind" as the now sighted folks did not thank their doctors when their bandages were removed but immediately ran to a poster of their leader, Kim Il Sung and began crying hysterically--thanking HIM for the restoration of their sight.

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.

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.

This film does NOT show what ordinary North Koreans go through. It focuses on an a family of the communist elite in Pyongyang who by western standards are filthy rich because they actually have some rice and meat for dinner. Give me a damn break. In order to live in Pyongyang where this film was shot, you need to be a member of the communist party. You need to prove your allegiance to the communist party. In order to do that you will probably need to inform on other people who will end up in a gulag and will die of starvation, beatings, exposure or other privations, if you are not outright executed. The informant is a murderer by proxy.The film follows the lives of just such people. Some may be brainwashed. Some know exactly what they're doing. Some put decency to the wind and will do anything they can to survive. It's called dog eat dog. (No Korean pun intended). Of course this all throws in the question of how exactly a UK crew was given access to a completely closed society; a society that could violently collapse at the drop of a dime if it had more information to the outside world. Could it perhaps be that these dunderheads are actually sympathetic to the murderous regime of Jong-Il? All signs point to yes. At the very least they consider this just a 'different system' of life. Just like living in your own house with your wife and kids is 'different' from being in solitary confinement in a state penitentiary... at best.If the filmmakers had any integrity, heart, soul, or bravery they would have gone against all odds to expose the horrors that occur on a daily basis in this awful place. The concept of the so-called "mass games" as a tool for brainwashing - which is exactly its purpose - could have been shown for the sham that it is but instead is given a nice gloss-over in this rubbish film. The director's commentary on the DVD is the prize winner. He actually states something to the like of "I am just trying to show ordinary people in DPRK" and "it's just a different system". Well the Third Reich was a different system too.Please try to keep your eyes open people! Relativism in the face of abject evil will make you the first in line under the firing squad when the bullshit artists come to power.