IMDb > Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
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Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 3)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) -- An African American mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) -- Trailerfan.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   33,004 votes
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Director:
Writer:
Jim Jarmusch (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 October 1999 (France) more
Genre:
Tagline:
All assassins live beyond the law... only one follows the code more
Plot:
An African American mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(26 articles)
User Comments:
a fascinating, strange hybrid of black, Japanese and Italian culture, with a perfectly detached, somber lead in Forrester more (318 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Ghost Dog (Australia)
Ghost Dog - Der Weg des Samurai (Germany)
Ghost Dog, la voie du samouraï (France)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence and language.
Runtime:
116 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Ghost Dog is in the park, just before the Haitian ice cream man is introduced, the Crips in the park are rhyming to the beat of Raekwon's 1995 song "Ice Cream", which was produced by The 'RZA', who also composed the film's score more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Ghost Dog steals the second car, we see the instruments on the dashboard. As he flicks the ignition switch with his code-breaking gizmo the engine starts; still the needle on the tachometer does not move. more
Quotes:
Ghost Dog: Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall, there was this one: "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously." more
Movie Connections:
References Rashômon (1950) more
Soundtrack:
From Then Till Now more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
57 out of 67 people found the following comment useful.
a fascinating, strange hybrid of black, Japanese and Italian culture, with a perfectly detached, somber lead in Forrester, 9 July 2004
9/10
Author: MisterWhiplash from United States

Jim Jarmusch is one of the few filmmakers in Hollywood able to make bodies of work that are challenging, thoughtful, and with a distinctive voice. Like the Coen Brothers, it's hard to make his films accessible to the public like many other films at the cineplexes, and that's part of the joy in watching a film such as Ghost Dog. It's such a strange kind of story, but it's a story that extremely well crafted, even when some of the characters aren't developed enough past a certain point. While I can't really say that it's a great film, there are plenty of great things about it.

Such as a pulsing, rhythmically engaging soundtrack (I'm not a big fan of rap and hip-hop, but the artists on here are better than expected) with the RZA behind the seat. Delicate, finite cinematography by Robby Mueller (who's other superb collaboration with Jarmusch was on Down By Law). A performance from Forrest Whitaker, as the dedicated, un-hinged-from reality 'samurai' known as Ghost Dog, which ranks among his best and shows in plain sight that he can carry an action film with patience and cool. And the film also carries a fine sense of humor to many scenes - the fact that these gangsters (one of which Dog's boss) watch more cartoons than take care of business is as funny as the way they interact sometimes. While it tends to streak on parody, in the characters there's still the fascinating Jarmusch has in mixing the cultures.

It's a hard film to classify, for even though it's a martial-arts movie, the only sight of a sword is used for practice and not a blood-bath in Kill Bill. It's a gangster movie, but every five minutes or so there's philosophical notes on the way of the samurai that seems more in place in a (good, thematically engaging) art film than a (good, shoot-em-up) Hollywood actioner. It's a movie about urban-life, yet the only signs of Urbana are shown from a distance, where the only two who will talk to Ghost Dog are a Haitian ice cream guy (who provides a wonderfully weird scene on the roof with Ghost Dog), and a little girl who likes to read. But it's this mixture that can keep a viewer on his or her toes, especially once you realize the psychological state of the lead as much as his spiritual state.

Parts of the film might turn off one group, but the other parts of the film might keep the same group enthralled. In fact, it's as interesting a comparison to be made to Kill Bill (itself a hybrid) as it is in the spiritual and stylistic parent, Le Samourai by Melville. Like those films, at the least, Jarmusch's film asks to be looked at more than once...Anyway, three cheers for Garry "Nobody" Farmer!

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Great film. rhezdekus
Stealing the couple`s clothes 1bilbo
The Dog in the middle of the movie arielrosenfelder
Was Louie shot with a ghost bullet? annikaappelin
The suit Ghostdog gives to Raymond... teapotasterism
RZA appearance... disturbednakedchild
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