Main Cast: Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Isaach de Bankolé, Frank Minucci
Release Year: 1999
Country: FR/US
Run Time: 116 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A surreal crime drama told as only Jim Jarmusch could, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai stars Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog, a hit man living in an unidentified but run-down city in what license plates call "The Industrialized State." Known for his gift of being able to come and go without people noticing him, Ghost Dog is a self-taught samurai who is obsessed with order and his strict personal moral code, drawn from the philosophies of the Japanese warriors. As every samurai needs a leader to whom he swears loyalty, Ghost Dog has devoted himself the service of Louie (John Tormey), a low-level crime boss who once saved his life. When Louie's superiors decide he must be executed, Ghost Dog leaps into action, methodically wiping out his many enemies. Along with a dizzying series of stylized shoot-outs, Ghost Dog also features carrier pigeons, characters who read Rashomon, a French-speaking ice cream man, and a score by RZA from the top-selling hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, who have their own well-documented obsession with Asian culture. Ghost Dog was screened in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
From Stranger Than Paradise on, cities in Jim Jarmusch films have been a place where disparate elements and various cultures come into contact, and occasionally into conflict, with one another. Ghost Dog is the director's most explicit examination of this vision, its central character born into one culture, expressing a strong elective affinity toward another, and indentured to yet a third. Where some directors would have used the set up to explore a sense of postmodern confusion, Jarmusch is clearly fascinated with the syncretism at work. It helps that he has an actor as thoughtful and effective as Forest Whitaker in the lead role, conveying a strange mixture of melancholy and professional pride as he goes about his business. In addition to comparing two endagered, honor-bound ways of life -- Mafia and samurai -- Ghost Dog's profession also allows Jarmusch to continue the commentary on American violence initiated in 1995's Dead Man. When Ghost Dog kills, the director portrays the violence unflinchingly, not willing to compromise his vision of the character. Does his life of violence simply echo his environment? Does his philosophical foundation justify his way of life, or does he use it merely to excuse his choices? As usual, Jarmusch's deadpan approach leaves it to viewers to fill in the blanks, and as usual his unwillingness to supply the answers contributes greatly to the impact of the film. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide
Tricia Vessey - Louise Vargo; Victor Argo - Vinny; Richard Portnow - Handsome Frank; Gene Ruffini - Old Consigliere; Camille Winbush - Pearline; Gary Farmer - Nobody; Chuck Jeffreys - Mugger
Credit
Mario R. Ventenilla - Art Director, Ellen Lewis - Casting, Laura Rosenthal - Casting, Diana Schmidt - Co-producer, John Dunn - Costume Designer, Jude Gorjanc - First Assistant Director, Jim Jarmusch - Director, Jay Rabinowitz - Editor, RZA - Composer (Music Score), Ted Berner - Production Designer, Robby Müller - Cinematographer, Richard Guay - Producer, Jim Jarmusch - Producer, Ron Von Blomberg - Set Designer, Drew Kunin - Sound/Sound Designer, Jim Jarmusch - Screenwriter
Depending on who you ask, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is either a piece of cool meditation on the rules of combat or an ultraviolent glamorization of thug life. The same can be said of the music chosen for the soundtrack. It is aggressive yet calculated, exuberant and orderly and smooth and jagged. With songs from the Wu Tang Clan, Kool G Rap and North Star among others, this soundtrack is worth checking out. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide
Jeru the Damaja (Performer), RZA (Arranger), RZA (Producer), RZA (Executive Producer), RZA (Mixing), Kool G Rap (Performer), Wu-Tang Clan (Performer), Mitchell Diggs (Executive Producer), Mitchell Diggs (Executive Supervision), Masta Killa (Performer), Melodie (Performer), Sunz of Man (Performer), Bang Bang (Performer), Tekitha (Performer), Royal Fam (Performer), Afu-Ra (Performer), North Star (Performer), The Black Nights (Performer), Jose "Choco" Reynoso (Engineer), Superb (Performer), William Scott Wilson (Translation), Forest Whitaker (Readings)
Ghost Dog (Whitaker) sees himself as a retainer of Louie (John Tormey), a local mobster, who saved Ghost Dog's life years ago. Louie tells Ghost Dog to kill a gangster who is sleeping with the daughter of the mafia boss Vargo (Henry Silva). However, Ghost Dog kills the man in the girl's presence. The mobsters decide to get rid of Ghost Dog to cover up their involvement. Louie knows practically nothing about Ghost Dog, and the hitman communicates only by homing pigeon. The mobsters start by tracing all the pigeon coops in town. They find Ghost Dog's cabin atop a building and kill his pigeons. Ghost Dog realizes he must kill the entire mafia or otherwise they will kill him and his master.
During the day, Ghost Dog frequently visits the park to see his best friend, a Haitianice cream salesman named Raymond (Isaach De Bankolé) who speaks only French. Ghost Dog doesn't understand French and Raymond doesn't understand English, but the two seem to understand each other. One of the recurring events in the film is a running gag when Ghost Dog and Raymond talk: one of them says something and the other, having not understood a word, rephrases it in his own language.
Ghost Dog also makes friends with a little girl named Pearline (Camille Winbush), to whom he lends a book — Rashōmon and Other Stories — he received from Vargo's daughter. Paralleling a major theme of Rashōmon, Louie and Ghost Dog have different accounts of the circumstances of their meeting: in Louie's flashback, we see him shoot Ghost Dog's attacker in self-defense, while in Ghost Dog's flashback, Louie shoots the attacker just as the attacker is about to kill Ghost Dog.
Eventually, Ghost Dog attacks Vargo's mansion single-handedly and kills almost everyone he encounters, sparing only Louie and Vargo's daughter. Though Louie feels some loyalty to Ghost Dog, he also feels that he must avenge the murder of boss Vargo, but it was stated that Vargo's daughter ordered him to murder Ghost Dog. Louie finally confronts Ghost Dog at Raymond's ice cream stand with Raymond and Pearline watching. Ghost Dog is unwilling to attack his master and allows Louie to kill him. His last act is to give Louie the copy of Rashōmon and encourage him to read it.
Production
The film was shot mostly in Jersey City, New Jersey, but the movie never mentions where the story is set. License plates reveal it is in "The Industrial State".[1]
Cartoons
Cartoons are also used as a metaphor to scene or plot dynamics:
Handsome Frank watches a cartoon featuring Betty Boop corralling her pigeons moments before Ghost Dog, a fellow pigeon raiser, arrives to assassinate him. Ghost Dog is later seen handling his pigeons in the same manner as Betty.
Boss Vargo watches a Felix the Cat cartoon wherein the Professor voices his frustration at capturing the elusive Felix and his magic bag, mirroring the mafia's inability to find and eliminate Ghost Dog, who carries his weapons and equipment in a black briefcase.
Vargo and his daughter, Louise, watch a Woody Woodpeckercartoon in the car, immediately after Ghost Dog has been distracted by a woodpecker whilst sniping in the woods. The cartoon features a staring and intimidation contest between Woody and the Grim Reaper. This can symbolize both the conflict between Ghost Dog and the mafia, as well as the personal conflict between Vargo and his daughter.
During the mansion shootout, Louise watches a black and white cartoon wherein a hunted moose takes cover, then through the aid of hammerspace, pulls a gun on his attacker and overpowers him.
Louise watches an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon in the car where Itchy overkills the corpse of Scratchy, while Vinny bleeds to death in the front seat.
Valerio's bodyguard watches a cartoon where a police officer fires up a drain pipe and the bullets flood out through the shower, pelting the suspect. This mirrors the way that Ghost Dog assassinates Sonny Valerio.
In the second to last scene, Louise watches an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon where the eponymous duo duel with progressively largerrevolvers, until their actions eventually destroy an opponent, mirroring how the events of the film eventually killed Ghost Dog.
Reception
Critical response to the film was largely positive. On the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the film received an 81% "Certified Fresh" rating. The critical consensus was that the movie is "An innovative blend of samurai and gangster lifestyles."[2] The film was nominated for a few awards but did not win any of them. Among the nominations were the César Award for Best Foreign Film on 2000[3] and the Palme d'Or award at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.[4] The film grossed a worldwide total of $9,380,473, of which $3,308,029 was in the United States.[5]
Gary Farmer is credited as playing a character named "Nobody", the same name of his character in Jarmusch's 1995westernDead Man. After he is confronted by some mob hitmen on his roof, Nobody repeats one of his lines from Dead Man: "stupid fucking white man!"
Forest Whitaker's younger brother Damon Whitaker plays the role of the young Ghost Dog in the flashback sequences.
Soundtrack
The Japanese release of the soundtrack album has different tracks from the US release.
US and Japanese versions of the soundtrack album have been released, each with a different set of tracks. The Japanese release also has some songs not in the film.[6] Songs in the film that don't appear on either soundtrack album include From Then Till Now performed by Killah Priest, Armagideon Time performed by Willi Williams, Nuba One performed by Andrew Cyrille and Jimmy Lyons and Cold Lampin With Flavor performed by Flavor Flav.[7]
Cultural references
The film has been interpreted by critics as an homage to Le Samouraï, a 1967 crime-drama by Jean-Pierre Melville starring Alain Delon. That movie opens with a quote from an invented Book of Bushido and features a meditative, loner hero, Jef Costello. In the same manner that Ghost Dog has an electronic "key" to break into luxury cars, Costello has a huge ring of keys that enable him to steal any Citroën DS.[8][9] The endings share a key similarity. Moreover, the peculiar relationship between the heroes of both movies and birds, companions and danger advisers, is another common point.
The film contains a number of references to Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill, such as when a bird lands in front of Ghost Dog's rifle scope, referencing the incident with a butterfly in Suzuki's film.[10] Ghost Dog shooting Sonny Valerio up the drain pipe is taken directly from Branded to Kill.
The movie was adapted into a role-playing game by Canadian game publisher Guardians of Order. The game focused on two person (one player and one Game Master) group play and resource information about the movie and the real-life Mafia.[11]
Ghost Dog drives past a club called the 'Liquid Sword'; this is a reference to the GZA album, "Liquid Swords".
Ghost Dog buys pigeon food in a store called 'Birdland'. Birdland is also the name of a famous jazz club named after Charlie Parker, nicknamed Bird. Forest Whitaker played Parker in the 1988 film Bird.
