Crossing the Line (2006)

Peace in the hermit kingdom

Some viewers of this film saw Dresnok as a regretful, sad man. He and other defectors had tried to leave North Korea through the Soviet embassy; but when that failed, they settled into their lives in the "hermit kingdom" and married, had kids, learned the language and lived fairly "normal" lives. Dresnok seemed rather satisfied with much of his life in North Korea, including his family life and the healthcare he receives. The sadness he does display stemmed from things like the death of his first wife, and he was bitter over the way another defector (Jenkins) returned to the U.S. military and attacked Dresnok and North Korean society.
Anyway, the film is fascinating, and provides a window on North Korea we rarely see. It humanizes this country that has been placed on the U.S. empire's "axis of evil." In the course of the film, Dresnok mentions why many North Koreans are anti-American; and the answer is obvious to everybody except for Americans who are to busy talking about how great and god blessed they are to notice - the U.S. Air Force had utterly demolished their society, so North Koreans are understandably a little angry about that.
I'd recommend John Feffer's North Korea/South Korea: U.S. Policy & the Korean Peninsula (Open Media) for information on the political context that North Korea's authoritarianism stems from.
I'd also recommend the film this director did before "Crossing the Line," that is A State of Mind.
It's kind of ironic how some Americans make fun of the North Korean's love for their "fatherly leader," while they themselves adore Reagan, re-elect war criminals like Bush, and elevate their slave-owning, Native American killing "founding fathers" to demigod status.
Hysterical nationalism isn't limited to places like North Korea.
Superpatriotism
Flagging Patriotism: Crises of Narcissism and Anti-Americanism June 22, 2008

Very insightful documentary

Technically brilliant, considering the subject -- fast-paced camera, excellent cuts, thoughtful shot angles.

Mr.Dresnok, living in Pyongyang since 1962, does the narrative himself. He comes across as a convivial, honest, lying, brutal character, you name it, and saddened beyond repair. "You do not like fishing?", a North Korean sitting next to him at the river remarks casually, causing Mr.Dresnok to ever so slightly draw a hasty cigarette drag.

There it is, the truth of a squandered life in an alien country. The Korean angler sensed it.

There is a certain twisted authenticity to him, a bullyish bonhomy that makes him look almost great to have a beer with at a sports bar at one moment, and look sadistic without further advance notice the next, with nothing but just seconds to spare inbetween.

The famous defector foe/friend (it's hard to tell at times) Robert Jenkins, now relocated to Japan, gets an earful from Mr.Dresnok for having spilled some truths. At that moment, Mr.Dresnok's outrage is a staged emotion, given the Party cadre sitting next to him. The documentary seems to not be entirely fair and balanced on this particular subject, although it serves as an interesting "audio et altera pars" to Mr.Jenkins' autobiography.

Mr.Dresnok, though, knows what his former rocky yet close relationship to the re-defected defector Jenkins calls for: some harsh words, that come across as totally insincere. In the end, this unhappy man is a simple soul who turned himself in for life at a moment's whim.

He genuinely loves his likeable grown-up son who has "Richmond, VA Caucasian college student" written all over his face, yet does barely speak English with a pronounced Korean accent and is going to be, of all choices, a North Korean diplomat.

Mr.Dresnok would also love to see his native Virginia one more time. He probably won't. He chokes up when the British filmmaker presents him with contemporary images of his childhood town, and lets him watch a Quicktime movie on an Apple notebook of former friends talking about him. Apart from his love for his family, that is the only genuine deep emotion Mr.Dresnok allows himself to show.

An excellent documentary about the strangest of fates young men can visit upon themselves. March 13, 2008

An interesting look inside North Korea from a U.S. defector

I saw this documentary at a local video store and I am glad I rented it. James Dresnok (spelling?) had a less than stellar life growing up. Neglected as a child and never finding his way to the "American Dream" he ended up in the Army on the DMZ. A documentary crew was allowed to go to North Korea to interview Mr. Dresnok who has spent his life since 1962 in that Stalinist state. It's an interesting documentary as it also points out that three other soldiers defected to North Korea around the same time. Dresnok is an interesting interview and his "escape" across the minefields, his interrogation by North Korean leaders and his "fame" as a "movie star" in North Korea portraying the U.S. as the Imperalist Evil General in their movies was fascinating to say the least.

Dresnok is a likable person at times and at other times I sat and wondered just how sad he really is in his life. Still, he seems content and he paints an interesting portrayal of life as a man, a husband and a father to his children in North Korea. When the documentary was over I learned a little bit about North Korea and about an American who found his "peace" in that Stalinist regime. February 21, 2008

Exciting look into a demonised nation

It was quite enjoyable to have such a candid peek into the lives of the Americans that escaped problems in their lives, until they could escape no more. It shows North Korea in a more positive light than usual. February 18, 2008

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