Joshua H.
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker), is a hired assassin for the Italian mafia, who follows the code of 'The Way of the Samurai'. When a hit goes wrong the mafia points the finger at Ghost Dog, and so continues a little game of war between a skilled assassin and his former Italian mafia employers. Directed by Jim Jarmusch, (one of the greatest independent directors of all time) this film was made for 2 million dollars and grossed 9 million dollars in the box office. The film was in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and best picture at the Independent Spirit Awards. Most people were most likely turned off by the title of the film as I was at first. And it is a true shame because this was a fantastic film; as weird as the plot of the story may be the film is a blend of hip hip, rap, and ghetto with an Eastern Asian, assassin story. It's an odd blend that works and makes for an interesting story. The character of Ghost Dog, played beautifully by Forest Whitaker, reads the 'Way of the Samurai' and follows it's codes and rules as a way of life. Ghost Dog lives off the grid on the roof of a banged up apartment and has no communication other than his messenger pigeons which he uses to contact his employers. Ghost Dog's only friend (his best friend), is Raymond (Isaach de Bankolé), a man who sells ice cream in his ice cream truck. Raymond speaks French, and can't even utter a word of English, which is quite comedic when Dog and he attempt to communicate with each other. Even though they don't understand what each other say they share a hobby in chess, and like ice cream. Their uncommon friendship is very beautiful, and made me think about the relationships I have with others around me. Jarmusch delivers a great film that needs to be seen. "Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai" is one of those film that's so unique and original that it stands out in the crowd out of dozens of other movies.
Jugu Abraham
This Jarmusch film needs to be compared with Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 French film "Le Samourai" because both stories are essentially the same. Further both films have birds playing a major role. Both films have a female witness to a key assassination. Both films have the assassin stealing cars.Thankfully the Jarmusch film shows birds returning to thank the humans and the bonding is key. For Melville, the bird seemed to have intelligence and communicated to the human through unusual twittering. Jarmusch was probably closer to reality here.Jarmusch succeeds where Melville failed by adding philosophy, interesting supporting characters--the ice cream vendor and the smart girl who carries books in her lunch box. Melville merely reduced the story to a cop and an assassin trying to resolve the respective mysteries.
SnoopyStyle
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) dutifully follows Hagakure, The Way of the Samurai. He lives in a rundown shack with his pigeons. He's a hit-man for local mafia guy Louie (John Tormey) who saved his life 8 years ago. Louie puts out a hit on Handsome Frank. GD kills him but the daughter Louise (Tricia Vessey) of the mafia boss Ray Vargo (Henry Silva) is there to witness it. Louie has to get rid of GD to avoid being involved in a made man's murder. The problem is that Louie only communicates with GD through the pigeons. GD's best friend is the french speaking ice cream man Raymond (Isaach De Bankolé). Little Pearline makes friends with GD. The mobsters start killing any black pigeon handlers and they kill all his birds. He has to take on the mob but he can't take out his master Louie and the girl Louise.It's mobsters and samurai. No, it's not Tarantino. In fact, it's far from Tarantino. The action is not as cool. It's functional 90s action with a particular cheesy visual effect. The moment when the mob guys confront Louie about his hit man is rather telling. Jim Jarmusch seems to be trying to be funny there but he doesn't have the snappy Tarantino dialog. The weird stuff he does better like the french ice cream man. I stop paying attention to the non-sensical Samurai philosophy but it adds to a surreal feel to the movie. A lot more surrealism would be better and more to Jarmusch's wheelhouse. This is a great idea with an OK execution.
david-sarkies
I saw this movie a while ago and then bought it not so long ago so I have seen it probably about three times. It is a good movie but after the third time it still held me somewhat but it seems that it goes really slow. That is not necessarily a bad thing, and I guess that it is the nature of this movie as we watch a modern day samurai wonder around the streets of a northern American city doing what samurai generally do, and that is serve their master. In a way what this movie is trying to construct is the idea of the samurai in the modern world.It does work, and as I said it is a good movie, but it is interesting to note that there are ideas about holding on to the past and moving on to the future. The movie itself is broken up into numerous chapters which are each introduced by a quote from the Hagakuri, which is also known as The Way of the Samura. Basically Ghost Dog uses this book as his bible, to the point that he carries it with him everywhere, and reads it regularly.The other interesting feature of this book is how it intermeshes cartoons within the action of the movie. You don't notice it at first, but it becomes noticeable later on. For instance there is a cartoon of Betty Boo waving a net around trying to control some birds, and then we have Ghost Dog, on his rooftop Manse, waving a flag by which he trains his pigeons.I suspect that the quotes from Hagakuri also relate to the chapter in the film as well, but I must say that I am not all that willing to deconstruct this movie to the point that I try to understand how the quote relates to that particular chapter. As I said, it is not necessarily a boring movie, but it isn't one that I would like to watch over and over again.
AD
