Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Review
by Ian Waldron-Mantgani (Ukcritic AT aol DOT com)May 14th, 2000
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai ***
Rated on a 4-star scale
Screening venue: Cornerhouse (Manchester)
Released in the UK by Film Four on May 5, 2000; certificate 15; 116 minutes; countries of origin France/Germany/Japan/USA; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Jim Jarmusch; produced by Richard Guay, Jim Jarmusch. Written by Jim Jarmusch.
Photographed by Robby Müller; edited by Jay Rabinowitz.
CAST.....
Forest Whitaker..... Ghost Dog
John Tormey..... Louie Bonacelli
Cliff Gorman..... Sonny Valerio
Henry Silva..... Ray Vargo
Isaach de Bankolé..... Raymond
Tricia Vessey..... Louise Vargo
Victor Argo..... Vinny
Gene Ruffini..... old consigliere
Richard Portnow..... Handsome Frank
Camille Winbush..... Pearline, the little girl
The hit man has no name. People in the neighbourhood just call him 'ghost dog'. He lives on the roof of a New York City apartment block, in an iron shack, surrounded by pigeons. His only friend is a Haitian ice-cream vendor who does not speak his language. Completely disconnected from reality, he uses the code of ancient samurai warriors as a guide on how to conduct his life and work.
"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, the perfect and perhaps only filmmaker for this material. He's fascinated by the quietly insane, or at least the quirky outsiders, of society. Think of the layabouts in "Stranger Than Paradise", the mixed bag of oddballs in "Mystery Train", the trio of plodding inept crooks in "Down By Law". Good old Jim has dedicated his career to looking at nutcases with a tender grin.
In "Ghost Dog", he makes clear that the plot will contain no surprises, so he can devote his attention to observing little details. The early scenes show us that Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) does contract killings for a gang of Italian mobsters. He feels indebted to one of their number for saving his life when he was a kid. For reasons I wasn't really paying attention to, it is decided that Ghost Dog himself must die, and by the end of the movie, of course, this is what's going to happen.
As ever, Jarmusch's pace is slow, and his camera stays pretty much stationary. Scenes are deliberately flat, lending a poignancy to the pathetic atmosphere all the characters live in, and also a comedic contrast to the topsy-turvy nature of the things going on. Realistic foibles are thrust onto action-adventure set-ups: The film is full of little moments like the one in which a pair of tough-talking gangsters sit around in serious, contemplative confusion at why Ghost Dog communicates with them by carrier pigeon. Try to imagine the scene in "Pulp Fiction" where the two guys are nitpicking about how to clean their blood-drenched car, spun out to feature length.
COPYRIGHT(c) 2000 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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