Crossing the Line

In my experience, the best bio-pics are those in which I identify, or at the very least, sympathize with the subject of the film. CROSSING THE LINE is the very opposite of this. James Dresnok is a most reprehensible character. His decision to defect has little or nothing to do with the large moral defects in his character. He comes across as a thug and a bully. I suppose one could overlook some of this due to his unfortunate background, however many have had personal histories such as this, and not sunk to his tragic fate. The excessive smoking and drinking almost seem like a personal vendetta by his 'better' self against the 'evil' that is in him. He is really in the process of self-destruction, and rightly so. In spite of this, however, I think that CROSSING THE LINE is a fine film. After viewing the movie, I could not empathize with Dresnok, or even make a case as to why he took the path that he did. But, Daniel Gordon did a superior job illuminating this disreputable individual. We are allowed to see this man 'warts and all', and the film-maker goes out of his way to be evenhanded. It would have been so easy, and probably tempting, to just cast Dresnok as a two-bit villain.

'Crossing the Line' is a brilliant documentary of the life of Pfc James Dresnok since he defected as a young US soldier to North Korea in the mid-Sixties. He is said to be the only such living defector left in that country today. The two British men who made this film, it seems, were only given permission to do so as they had previously made a popular film about the North Korean football (i.e. soccer) team who as tremendous underdogs beat the mighty Italian team in the late stages of the 1966 World Cup. This documentary provides a fascinating portrait of James Dresnok's unique life. Whilst doing so, it allows the viewer to see a little of what is life in North Korea. I strongly recommend that others buy this DVD.

This film was another job for Dreslock to perform for his North Korean masters.

Clearly he was a troubled and insubordinate soldier who defected rather than get in trouble for leaving his post with a document he forged. But what an interesting and different life he then had.

North Koreans live in perpetual fear under such circumstances it is just easiest to believe the state line. Dreslock is a typical example.

He also shows how you can take someone who would have amounted to nothing in the US and turn him into something quite interesting. Someone who speaks Korean fluently lectures at Universities etc etc....

What would be really interesting is for him to show up now in the US and do a second film.

To judge him from this film is unfair...utter the wrong word and he or his family would face death or worse.

The real losers in all this was the North Koreans no one believes their propaganda in the West. Think millions starved while this dufus was swigging down Johnny Walker Black Label. It is still fascinating.

A fascinating story about a man that did the unthinkable. He crossed over into North Korea and surrendered to their ideals and way of life. We are offered a look inside North Korea, one of the most isolated and intriguing places in the world. Dresnok is obviously a supporter of where he lives, and rarely says a bad word against it. The film does give us some interesting tidbits, such as Dresnok's troubled home life and youth, but the main focus is on a man and how he can live in a place most westerners would consider inhospitable. Their is a great emotional weight to the film, as Dresnok talks about his first failed marriage, and both of his marriages + children in North Korea. Underneath the surface is also the complex goings on between Dresnok and 3 other American GI's that defected. Dresnok may be the only one left, but the continuing battle of words between himself and Jenkins makes for one of cinemas great rivalries. It would be easy to call Dresnok brainwashed, if he didn't seem so down to earth and in control. Insightful, emotional, and never judging, this is how a documentary should be made.

A British documentary about US Army defector James Joseph Dresnok (born 1941) currently living in North Korea after having defected during the 60s.

This is a very strange story. Americans defecting to Nazi Germany is strange, but somewhat understandable. Americans sympathizing with terrorists and moving to Afghanistan is hard to understand, but it makes sense on a certain level. This one is stranger still... defecting to a country that not only speaks a foreign tongue and has different views, but restricts freedom? Who purposely wants to live in a prison? And the man does not comes across as mistreated or brainwashed in any way. Clearly something very odd happened, and he may not be completely truthful (the tale of his first wife being a kidnap victim is a story in itself)... who is James Dresnok?