Rare peek inside a closed society

If your knowledge of North Korea ends with “MASH” reruns or having seen “Team America: World Police,” you’re in for an education with the insightful documentary “A State of Mind.” British filmmaker Daniel Gordon was given unusual access in making a fair-minded film that profiles this hermetically sealed nation and by proxy, its enigmatic leader, Kim Jong Il. Though not the bulging-eyed, megalomaniac puppet from Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s satire, he is nonetheless an unsettling, messianic figure as seen through the eyes of his people.

The film follows two girls, 13-year-old Pak Hyon Sun and 11-year-old Kim Song Yun, as they train for the Mass Games, huge choreographed celebrations held periodically to commemorate significant anniversaries in North Korea’s history. As the cameras follow and interview them and their families, the girls train several hours each day for the games, all in the hope of bringing glory to the general, Kim Jong Il

Even if you studiously follow world news, you’re unlikely to have seen this much of the day-to-day lives of North Koreans, which are riddled with contradictions. The girls’ families, one from the intellectual class, the other working class, live in Pyongyang, where all are equal under the Communist system. The state-provided apartments, though small and spartan, appear to be comfortable. However, we are told that the capital city is considered the nation’s showcase and people are reminded how lucky they are to live there, implying conditions in other areas are not as good.

Even in Pyongyang, food is rationed. One family celebrates a child’s birthday by giving her a full bowl of rice while her siblings get half. State-run radio is piped into every kitchen (though the volume can be turned down), and the country’s one television station (if you are fortunate enough to have received one) airs propaganda, movies and entertainment for five hours each day.

Family is hugely important, and that is as much a factor in their belief system as governmental indoctrination. Most of the country’s hardships are blamed on the U.S., and with little or no access to the West, the North Koreans grow up with knowledge of the damage wrought on the country during the Korean War -- or what they call the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War -- based on what they hear from their parents and grandparents.

The games themselves have to be seen to believed, and the film climaxes with the September 2003 Mass Games. Made up of three elements -- gymnastics, backdrop and music -- they are similar to the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, only on an impressively larger scale. The North Koreans describe it a “socialist realism extravaganza” as tens of thousands of young gymnasts perform precisely timed routines while behind them a phalanx of children fills half the stadium turning color-coded cards in tightly coordinated unison. This brilliantly colored backdrop creates an enormous animated tableaux that depict iconic moments in the nation’s history.

Initially, Hyon Son, Song Yun and their families sound like automatons spouting party-approved rhetoric, but Gordon’s talent is having the patience to let them gradually loosen up on-camera. The result is a fresh, straightforward portrayal of what the film calls “the least visible ... least known ... least understood ... country in the world.”

*

‘A State of Mind’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines:

Suitable for all ages

A Kino International release. Producer-director Daniel Gordon. Executive producer John Battsek. Cinematography Nick Bennett. Editor Peter Haddon. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.

At Laemmle’s Fairfax, 7907 Beverly Blvd., (323) 655-4010.