AllMovie

While North Korea is slowly growing into a world power, thanks in part to the controversial actions of its leader, Kim Jong II, it is also a nation cut off from the world, keeping little contact with its neighbors China and Russia and separated from South Korea. North Korea is one of the few nations where hard-line adherence to Communist ideals is still the order of the day, and British filmmaker Daniel Gordon traveled to North Korea to document an unusual annual event, the Mass Games, a massive performance featuring literally thousands of dancers, gymnasts, athletes and musicians staged as a celebration of patriotism and the socialist ideal. Pak Hyon Sun and Kim Song Yon are two girls who were selected to perform in the Mass Games as part of a gymnastics program, and A State of Mind follows them as they prepare for the show, hoping against hope their efforts please Kim Jong II; along the way, the film offers a perspective on their daily lives and the lives of those around them in a land largely unknown and little understood in the West. Director Daniel Gordon has examined sports and politics in North Korea before with his acclaimed documentary The Game of Their Lives.