Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
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| Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai | |
|---|---|
 The DVD cover. |
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| Directed by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Produced by | Richard Guay Jim Jarmusch |
| Written by | Jim Jarmusch |
| Starring | Forest Whitaker |
| Music by | RZA |
| Cinematography | Robby Müller |
| Editing by | Jay Rabinowitz |
| Distributed by | Channel Four Films |
| Release date(s) | 18 May 1999 |
| Running time | 116 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English, French |
| Budget | $2,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch.
The film takes place in a fictional Northeastern city and its environs in the present day United States. [1] Forest Whitaker stars as the title character, the mysterious "Ghost Dog", an African American hitman in the employ of the Mafia, and who follows the ancient code of the samurai as outlined in book of Yamamoto Tsunetomo's recorded sayings, Hagakure.
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[edit] Plot
Ghost Dog sees himself as a retainer of Louie (John Tormey), a local mobster, whom Ghost Dog believes saved his 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 small-time mobsters decide to get rid of Ghost Dog to cover up their involvement. The Mafia group are hardly the big-time mobsters of the type seen in The Godfather: they are incapable of paying the rent for their meeting place and have little social collateral.
Louie knows practically nothing about Ghost Dog, and the hitman further communicates only by carrier pigeon. The mobsters start by tracing all African-American pigeon-keeping loners. They find Ghost Dog's cabin atop a building, and killing his pigeons, after which Ghost Dog realizes he is forced to 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 Haitian ice 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 he received from Vargo's daughter, titled Rashomon and Other Stories, which gets Pearline interested in ancient Japan. Paralleling a major theme of Rashomon, 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 performs a one-man attack on boss Vargo's mansion and kills everyone inside, sparing only Vargo's daughter and his "master" Louie. Though Louie feels some loyalty to Ghost Dog, he also feels that he must avenge the murder of boss Vargo. Louie finally confronts Ghost Dog at Raymond's ice cream stand with Raymond and Pearline watching. In the final showdown, Ghost Dog is unwilling to attack his master and allows Louie to kill him. His last act is to pass Louie the copy of Rashomon and encourage him to read it. Immediately afterwards, Pearline picks up the silenced pistol that Ghost Dog used throughout the film and cast aside at his death, aiming it towards Louie and pulling the trigger of the empty gun.
In the end it is revealed that Vargo's daughter now leads the outfit and it was she who commanded that Louie kill Ghost Dog, completing the chain of events from Ghost Dog's first assassination of a made man, the mafia's pursuit of him, Ghost Dog's "vengeful retaliation," and finally, Louie killing the man "responsible" for the events of the film.
In the denouement, Pearline is shown reading Ghost Dog's prized copy of the Hagakure (which he had given her prior to his death), and the movie closes with a voiceover of her reading from it, implying that Pearline might follow the bushido code that Ghost Dog introduced to her.
[edit] Themes
Ghost Dog is about clashing cultures: the movie stresses the conflict between the codes of conduct embraced by two "ancient tribes": the Mafia and the Samurai. There is a certain sense of inevitability in the movie, illustrated by Ghost Dog's acceptance of his eventual death by his master, and also of honor, illustrated by Ghost Dog killing two poachers he encounters on the road with a dead bear (the black bear is imagery associated throughout the movie with Ghost Dog himself). Communication and miscommunication are also dominant themes.
Cross-culturalism is represented through various characters adopting lifestyles and cultural interests outside their traditional milieu. Ghost Dog lives by the ancient code of Bushido, boss Vargo recalls the tribal names of Native Americans, and Sonny Valerio has a passion for rap music and the monikers of rap artists. An additional example of characters adopting philosophies incongruent to their lives is shown when Raymond and Ghost Dog witness a man building a full-scale boat atop his apartment building, with no conceivable way to move it to a body of water.
Between each act of the film, a quotation from Hagakure is screened and read by Ghost Dog, usually associated in some way to the scene immediately before or after the caption.
Ghost Dog is seen embracing the ritualized ways of the samurai in the way he returns his pistol to his holster, which is reminiscent of the way a katana is sheathed.
Ghost Dog shoots Handsome Frank first in the stomach, then in the chest, then in the head. These shots follow the same pattern as seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, in which the first cut with a sword or knife is made across the belly, the second cut up towards the sternum, and finally the suicide dips his head and is decapitated by his assistant.
Another ritual for Ghost Dog is when he is driving a stolen car, he uses the same motion to place one of his CDs into the car stereo. He always sets the volume to 21, too.
[edit] Cartoons
In the film, cartoons are also used as a metaphor to scene or plot dynamics:
- Handsome Frank watches a cartoon featuring Betty Boop corraling 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 Woodpecker cartoon 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 a ghost. 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 larger revolvers, until their actions eventually destroy an opponent, mirroring how the events of the film eventually killed Ghost Dog.
[edit] Reception
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Critical response to the film was mixed, but largely positive: on the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the film received a 78% favorable 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 and the Palme d'Or award on 1999.[3]
The film grossed a total of $9,380,473 in the world, $3,308,029 of which in the United States.[4]
[edit] Cast
- Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog
- John Tormey as Louie
- Cliff Gorman as Sonny Valerio
- Dennis Liu as Chinese Restaurant Owner
- Frank Minucci as Big Angie
- Richard Portnow as Handsome Frank
- Tricia Vessey as Louise Vargo
- Henry Silva as Ray Vargo
- Gene Ruffini as Old Consigliere
- Frank Adonis as Valerio's Bodyguard
- Victor Argo as Vinny
- Kenny Guay as Boy in Window
- Vince Viverito as Johnny Morini
- Gano Grills as Gangsta in Red
[edit] Casting notes
- Gary Farmer is credited as playing a character named "Nobody", the same name of his character in Jarmusch's 1995 western, Dead Man. After he is confronted by some mob hitmen on his roof, Nobody says one of his lines from Dead Man: "Stupid fucking white man".
- Forest Whitaker's younger brother Damon Whitaker plays the role of "Young Ghost Dog" in the flashback sequences.
[edit] Cultural references
- The film is 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.[5] [6]
- When Ghost Dog introduces himself to the mafia guards at the mansion, he says his name is "Bob Solo," a combination of two Harrison Ford characters, Bob Falfa (from American Graffiti) and Han Solo (from Star Wars).
- 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. [7]
[edit] Soundtrack
The film's score and soundtrack is produced by the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, his first soundtrack production. He was later involved in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill franchise, Blade: Trinity, and other movies.
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. [8] Songs in the film that don't appear any 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.[9]
RZA also has a small role in the movie, playing a camouflage wearing, cross-bearing "street crusader" counterpart to Ghost Dog's samurai. As Ghost Dog and RZA's character meet on the street, he and Ghost Dog bow and exchange greetings.
- RZA: Ghost Dog, power and equality.
- Ghost Dog: Always see everything my brother.
After the greeting they both pass each other and continue on their way. RZA is credited as "Samurai In Camouflage" in the end credits.
[edit] Literature referenced in the film
- Mary Shelley. Frankenstein. ISBN 0-7434-8758-3.
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo, translated by William Scott Wilson. Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. ISBN 4-7700-1106-7.
- Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Rashomon. ISBN 0-87140-173-8.
- W.E.B. DuBois (1961). The Souls of Black Folk. ISBN 0-14-018998-X.
- Kenneth Grahame. The Wind in the Willows. ISBN 0-689-71310-X.
[edit] References
- ^ Cold Warrior Jeannette Catsoulis on Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. reverse shot (2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-13.
- ^ Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Rotten Tomatoes (1999). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
- ^ Awards for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Internet Movie Database (2001). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
- ^ Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Box Office Mojo (2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.
- ^ Hoberman, J. March 1-7, 2000. "Into the Void". Village Voice (retrieved October 14, 2006)
- ^ Thorsen, Tor, Reel.com."Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" (DVD review, retrieved October 14, 2006)
- ^ David L. Pulver and John R. Python, Jr. Ghost Dog Role-Playing Game and Resource Book. ISBN 1-894525-02-7.
- ^ Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Soundtrack Collector (1999). Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
- ^ Soundtracks for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Internet Movie Database (1999). Retrieved on 2006-09-06.
[edit] External links
- Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai at the Internet Movie Database
- Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai at All Movie Guide
- Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Official Web Page (in Polish)
- PopMatters interview with Forest Whitaker
| Films Directed by Jim Jarmusch |
|---|
| Permanent Vacation • The New World • Stranger Than Paradise • Coffee and Cigarettes • Down by Law • Coffee and Cigarettes: Memphis Version • Mystery Train • Night on Earth • Coffee and Cigarettes: Somewhere in California • Dead Man • Year of the Horse • Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai • Ten Minutes Older • Coffee and Cigarettes • Broken Flowers |
