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| Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai |
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  (7/10)
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Runtime: 116 |
| Public Rating: 8.16 (37 votes) |
Director: Jim Jarmusch |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Thriller |
Year: 1999 |
| Writer(s): Jim Jarmusch |
| Reviewed by: Goatdog |
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Jim Jarmusch's movies are populated by characters and situations that don't really make much sense when compared to "the real world." You have to look at them based on their own logic. Some filmmakers try this and fail, but Jarmusch is among the best at it.
Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a hired assassin who lives by the code of the samurai. This code reveals itself to us through short paragraphs that appear, much like the titles of silent films. His best friends are a Raymond, Haitian man who speaks no English, and Pearline, a local girl who trades books with him. He is devoted to his master, Louie (John Tormey), a scummy mobster, because the mobster saved his life several years before. When hired to kill one mobster, Ghost Dog refuses to kill Louise, a girl present at the scene. Inexplicably, the mob, led by Ray Vargo (Henry Silva), decrees that Ghost Dog must die for killing the man they hired him to kill.
I suppose that is the main theme of the movie. Ghost Dog lives by a code of honor, but works for men who have no honor. He is a creature of a long-dead time and place, and his belief that his employers share the same code leads to predictable mayhem. The mobsters are sad, frail old men. They are unimaginative, and they turn on each other like hungry dogs. They do not deserve Ghost Dog's respect, but he gives it anyway, because of his code.
The film is filled with Jarmusch quirks. Ghost Dog communicates with the mob via carrier pigeon. One of the mobsters is a Public Enemy fan. Ghost Dog and his friend, the Haitian ice cream peddler, have conversations in which neither understands what the other is saying, but they understand nonetheless. It is these little details, as well as Whitaker's performance, that elevate this film.
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