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Crossing the Line

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United Kingdom · 2006
1h 34m
Director Daniel Gordon
Starring James Dresnok, Charles Robert Jenkins, Christian Slater
Genre Documentary

Documentary examination of James J. Dresnok, a former U.S army soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962. We move through Dresnok’s personal history, his unhappiness in America, his desertion from the Army, and his life in a foreign country with his wife and children. He is shown with a couple of fellow defectors living in present-day Pyongyang.

Stream Crossing the Line

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What are critics saying?

50

Village Voice by

Decaying and illiterate, with a mouthful of metal teeth, Dresnok himself belies his advertisements for the greatness of North Korea.

75

New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman

Aside from some resonant hints that all is not as it seems, the movie leaves it to you to decide where the truths begin and ends. You'll be untangling Dresnok's knotty reality long after you leave the theater.

80

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

Crossing the Line, like its subject, remains a fascinating and frustrating enigma -- a declassified government report still marred by redacted passages.

75

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

It's an enormous scoop for a Western filmmaker, but a potentially compromising one, too. How much can a filmmaker challenge the dubious elements of Dresnok's story? At what point can the film be considered an unwitting propaganda tool for an oppressive, totalitarian system?

75

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

The release of Crossing the Line couldn't be more timely. Earlier this week, it was announced that the two Koreas would hold a summit this month in Pyongyang. Perhaps Kim will bring Dresnok with him.

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