Review of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) by Jack L — 05 Jun 2010

Here at last is the review of my all time favourite film. I was somewhat reluctant at first to write it for I believe that no review can fully do justice to this most excellent film. But seeing as several of my friends have expressed an interest in this film I have finally made up my mind to proceed.

This film is grossly overlooked, during my time on RT so far I have not seen one review of this film.

This is in my opinion Jim Jarmusch's masterpiece it rises above such excellent films as Dead Man and Down By Law with ease.

Jim Jarmusch's affinity with the down-and-out is put to good use here, the lives of people living outside of society are very well portrayed in this film.

Ghost Dog:Forest Whitaker.

Louie :John Tormey.

Raymond :Isaac De Bankolé.

Boss Vargo :Henry Silva.

Pearline :Camille Winbush.

The plot revolves around the central character: Ghost Dog, a large black man who inhabits a shack on top of an apartment building in an unknown city. He is a solitary man, having for company only his carrier pigeons(more on them later) and his books, one of the books that particularly catches his attention is Hagakure: the Way of the Samurai. He reads and rereads it and models his life on it, he becomes a modern Samurai, he builds a shrine, practises with a katana, contemplates death daily and in short lives his life according to the Way of the Samurai.

Now to be a Samurai one has to have a master, Ghost Dog's master is a small time Mafioso named Louie who saved his life years ago from certain death at the hands of some attackers. Louie is mystified by this man who only communicates by carrier pigeon but respects him as he his one of the best hit-men ever. He is untraceable, he has no friends, no family, no bank account, no car, no proper house, and no one knows his real name.

One day Louie sends word to Ghost Dog that he must eliminate a man named Handsome Frank, a member of the mob who had been messing around with the boss's daughter. The boss named Mr Vargo, doesn't want anyone to now of their involvement in Frank's killing so when he hears his daughter witnessed Ghost Dog silently eliminating Frank he decides to cover up the traces that may lead to him by killing Ghost Dog.

Ghost Dog however does not prove easy to kill.

For the moment though Ghost Dog is unaware of the turn events have taken and is going about his way, he visits Raymond a French ice-cream seller who doesn't speak a word of English and chats with him even though he doesn't speak a word of French. He also befriend a young girl named Pearline who shares his interest in reading, he lends here a copy of Rashomon which he picked up during the murder of Handsome Frank, the bosses daughter was reading it at the time.

The mob starts searching for him among the other roof-top dwellers, but Louie arrives to warn him of the danger he is in. Upon returning to his shack he discovers it destroyed with his possession scattered, his pigeons shot and his shrine dismantled.

He then realises that he and his master will never be safe while the mob is after them, he decides to eliminate all of them.

Ghost Dog drives to Mr Vargo's villa and in a strangely relaxed shoot-out eliminates the whole mob except the boss's daughter, Louie and Sonny the under-boss who wasn't present.

He goes to Sonny's house and eliminates him in an incredibly original way along with his bodyguard.

But he knows that his time is coming to an end, he starts making preparations for his death: he meets Pearline again and takes back Rashomon giving her Hagakure:the way of the Samurai in exchange. He visits Raymond the ice-cream vendor, leaves him money and noticing that he is armed, takes his weapon so he cannot intervene in the scene that follows.

Louie arrives, he feels a certain loyalty and friendship towards Ghost Dog but he is aware that he must revenge his friends and his boss. The boss's daughter(now the boss herself) has also ordered him to revenge the death of her father.

Ghost Dog is unarmed and out of loyalty to his master who once saved his life as well as out of a certain sense of fulfilment( he has seen everything he needs to see, he says) he is shot dead by Louie without resisting. Raymond and Pearline stand by helpless and not fully comprehending.

The film ends with Pearline reading the Hagakure and thinking about Ghost Dog, one gets the sense that she too might become like him one day: a Samurai.

This film is my favourite for many reasons which are personal, I don't expect you to understand them or to be persuaded by them. But if you do watch it, I will be glad for not enough people have seen it in my opinion.

The direction was superb, very laid-back and relaxed yet never boring. The gunfight scenes are very dreamlike and calm, there is no hyperactive direction and racing music in this film. Many shots may be considered useless to the film overall and the advancement of the plot (such as the driving scenes) but I think they all have their place and fit together seamlessly. The pacing was perfect, and the director treats the viewer like an intelligent being unlike most films these days.

The cinematography is by Robby Muller who did an extraordinary job on Dead Man, the style used in this film is different but just as good.

I liked the way cartoons were integrated into the film as metaphors for events or scenes from the film.

(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.).

The acting was terrific all around, Isaac De Bankolé gives a hilarious performance as Raymond the French ice-cream seller who doesn't speak a word of English. But it is Forest Whitaker's performance as Ghost Dog that really steals the show in this, he is amazing and gives one of his best performances yet in this, which is saying quite a lot for he is a great actor with many difficult roles under his belt (such as Charlie Parker in Bird, Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Cyrus Cole in Smoke...). John Tormey and the whole of the wast for the Mob were perfect in their roles as small-time gangsters who operate from the back of a Chinese store. There were some differences in the quality of acting though but I suppose not every one can be as great as Forest Whitaker in this.

The character of Ghost Dog is unique, there is no one quite like him, he always seems completely in control of himself and his surroundings. I liked the fact that there was no off-voice narration or some awkward situation that explains what he was thinking or feeling throughout the film. But due to the excellent acting by Forest Whitaker we can always guess what's going on inside him. The scene where Raymond likens Ghost Dog to a bear and proceeds to read from a french book about bears was very well seen, Ghost Dog did make me think of a bear, he was large and powerful but gentle, he was solitary but true to the few friends he had and very wise.

And now we come to the soundtrack, it is easily one of the best soundtrack's ever used in a film all I can say is that the RZA really surpassed himself, the scenes of the pigeons flying went perfectly with the background music.

The plot was pretty simple but explores many, many themes such as:

Crime: this theme was taken in a very humorous way, the elderly gangsters are really great characters and some of the dialogue between them is really funny.

Friendship: the friendship between Ghost Dog and Raymond was very touching even though they did not speak each others language, the friendship between Ghost Dog and Pearline was more of a Mentor/Student relationship.

Ancient Traditions in the Modern Age: Ghost Dog adheres very strongly to his beliefs but obviously finds it hard to sustain them in the times he lives in, others like him are shown very briefly but Ghost Dog is a loner so doesn't speak to them much.

The dialogue was very good, I particularly enjoyed the readings of passages of the Hagakure, which I have yet to read. Ghost Dog was reserved but when he did speak it was always to say something wise and important to the plot, he has no time for small-talk, other characters take care of that aspect of the dialogue. Overall it was all very interesting and in some cases enlightening.

Overall I am aware that this is not a flawless film but I loved it anyway, it might not be to everyone's taste but that just makes it all the more special. Some aspects and questions are left without ends or answers but it didn't ruin the film for me in fact it did the contrary it made me like it even more and prompted me to watch it several more times. I can safely say that the more you watch it the better it gets.

Highly recommended for Jim Jarmusch fans or just fans of independent cinema in general. I can't really recommend it to every one as I am sure that not every one (if anyone at all)will like it as much as I do.

Cinematography 10/10.

Acting 9/10.

Plot 10/10.

Screenplay 10/10.

Soundtrack 10/10.

If you have already seen it please post a comment with your opinion. I'm interested to hear different opinions even if they disagree with my own.