North Korea has such a high profile these days because of its nuclear weapons programme, it's difficult not to wonder what day-to-day life in the Stalinist hermit kingdom is like. Because journalists are generally barred from entering the country, information like that isn't easy to come by.
That's what's so fascinating about A State of Mind, a documentary made by British sports journalist Daniel Gordon. In 2003, Gordon and his film crew were allowed into North Korea to document two young gymnasts as they prepared for the Mass Games - the spectacular choreographed celebration of the hard-line communist regime's 60-year rule.
Unusually, Gordon was given free reign to film the daily lives of the gymnasts rehearsing in Pyongyang, as well as to visit museums, a communal farm, and the homes of the young girls. Gordon says he was provided with official guides and translators, but there was absolutely no attempt at censorship. In light of the disturbing footage he came back with, that's not difficult to believe.
Gordon says that Pyongyang is a privileged place in North Korea, and has, therefore, avoided some of the deprivations of the rest of the country. Even so, what emerges is a depressing picture that reinforces commonly held ideas of North Korea as a bleak, dirt-poor Orwellian state full of brainwashed citizens.
Gordon's invitation to visit North Korea was a result of good connections and good timing. The journalist, who has also written two books on British soccer team Sheffield Wednesday, made his debut film The Game of Their Lives about North Korea.
In 2002, the North Korean authorities felt they were getting a lot of bad press because of their suspected possession of nuclear weapons. They seem to have felt that a documentary about the Mass Games might be good publicity, so they allowed Gordon in to make his film. Unlikely as this may sound, anyone who's dealt with communist bureaucrats knows that the unthinkable sometimes suddenly becomes possible for no clear reason.
