Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Ξ September 27th, 2009 | → | ∇ 1999 |

Fast Download Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

A surreal crime drama told as only Jim Jarmusch could, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai stars Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog, a hit man living in an unidentified but run-down city in what license plates call “The Industrialized State.” Known for his gift of being able to come and go without people noticing him, Ghost Dog is a self-taught samurai who is obsessed with order and his strict personal moral code, drawn from the philosophies of the Japanese warriors.
From Stranger Than Paradise on, cities in Jim Jarmusch films have been a place where disparate elements and various cultures come into contact, and occasionally into conflict, with one another. Ghost Dog is the director’s most explicit examination of this vision, its central character born into one culture, expressing a strong elective affinity toward another, and indentured to yet a third. Where some directors would have used the set up to explore a sense of postmodern confusion, Jarmusch is clearly fascinated with the syncretism at work. It helps that he has an actor as thoughtful and effective as Forest Whitaker in the lead role, conveying a strange mixture of melancholy and professional pride as he goes about his business. In addition to comparing two endagered, honor-bound ways of life — Mafia and samurai — Ghost Dog’s profession also allows Jarmusch to continue the commentary on American violence initiated in 1995’s Dead Man.