Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 1999 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

All assassins live beyond the law... only one follows the code

Plot:

An African American mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Samurai | Ice Cream | Mafia | Book

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Forest Whitaker	...	Ghost Dog
John Tormey	...	Louie
Cliff Gorman	...	Sonny Valerio
Dennis Liu	...	Chinese Restaurant Owner
Frank Minucci	...	Big Angie
Richard Portnow	...	Handsome Frank
Tricia Vessey	...	Louise Vargo
Henry Silva	...	Ray Vargo
Gene Ruffini	...	Old Consigliere
Frank Adonis	...	Valerio's Bodyguard
Victor Argo	...	Vinny
Damon Whitaker	...	Young Ghost Dog
Kenny Guay	...	Boy in Window
Vince Viverito	...	Johnny Morini
Gano Grills	...	Gangsta in Red

Also Known As:

Ghost Dog (Australia)
Ghost Dog - Der Weg des Samurai (Germany)
Ghost Dog, la voie du samouraï (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

France | Germany | USA | Japan

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Pandora Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The scene in which Ghost Dog shoots the mobster through the sink drain was taken from Seijun Suzuki's Koroshi no rakuin (1967).

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Ghostdog was driving his first stolen car, the in-car scenes show the headlight on. But during the outside shots, it shows the headlight off, only the dimmer driving light on. Then later when he parked, it shows the headlight on again.

Quotes:

Louie: Nothing seems to make sense anymore.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Homestarrunner.com: Everything Else, Volume 2 (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Cold Lampin With Flavor

I live by a code

The movie is about codes of conduct, with 2 main codes that are dying out or are dead.

One is the code of the Mafia the other is the Samurai.

The basic plot is this. One of the Mafia wiseguys must be killed as he is having an affair with the daughter of the Mafia Don.

The person they get to do it is an African American who lives by the code of the Samurai and goes by the name of Ghost Dog. To be honest, I have met many Japanafiles so this is not so unbelievable.

But the code of the Mafia means that if you kill a wiseguy then you must be killed or the Mafia person who hired him must be killed.

Jim Jarmusch makes movies where the characters close relations based on only very small things. The Mafia wiseguy saved Ghost Dogs life, so now he must be his retainer. He lives off the land (lives on a roof, steals the cars and equipment he needs to do a job). There is also a friendship between 2 people who don't speak the same language. It is the connection between people that is so important here.

If you saw Dead man and like it, then you will love Ghost Dog. It is funny, serious, dark, tragic and beautiful all at the same time. Dead man missed the mark with some similar themes (though the DVD of Dead man has some deleted scenes that would have made the movie much better and reflected better the idea of small connections being strong connections).

I loved this movie, and I don't expect everyone else to. Art house movies have small audiences for this exact reason. I know a lot of people who avoided this movie because they thought it was cheesy. The answer is, yes it is, and most of the bad reviews reflect this same idea.

Also I love the sound track, with lots of Phat beats, and uses Hip Hop (African American culture) to reflect Japanese culture.