Ghost Dog: Way Of The Samurai
Ghost Dog (Whitaker) is a hitman, employed by mafia man Louie (Tormey), and contactable only by carrier pigeon. When Louie employs him to hit one of their own - his boss requests that Ghost Dog be eliminated to tie up loose ends. Ghost Dog finds himself the hunted. A follower of Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai, he conducts himself the way a Samurai should, and proceeds to take out...
Ghost Dog (Whitaker) is a hitman, employed by mafia man Louie (Tormey), and contactable only by carrier pigeon. When Louie employs him to hit one of their own - his boss requests that Ghost Dog be eliminated to tie up loose ends. Ghost Dog finds himself the hunted. A follower of Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai, he conducts himself the way a Samurai should, and proceeds to take out the mafia before they get to him.
This is an intriguing film; it has an uncomfortable atmosphere and a rather strange pace that tells you that you aren't watching your average movie. And you aren't. Split almost in to chapters by the words in the Hagakure that dictate Ghost Dogs actions, you see a fairly predictable script surrounded by some cool action, and even cooler hip-hop sounds. Whitaker is enigmatic as Ghost Dog, but I would have liked to know more of why he is the way he is. The tone of the movie is rather odd, many of the mafia scenes are quite funny, in particular the meeting where Louie is told to find Ghost Dog, but I'm not sure if it's intentional, and it doesn’t fit with the other scenes. Similarly Ghost Dog's interaction with his friends - played to reinforce his "lone swordsman" lifestyle, but it does make viewing a little uncomfortable. Generally the film is well performed and the direction good, Jim Jarmusch directing his story with a better understanding of the characters than I think comes over in the film. Occasionally the film borders on brilliant - see the "roof ship" for an example of this, but for the most, the film plods a little too slowly given its predictable outcome.
Well presented on DVD with a crisp, vibrant transfer and a neat DD5.1 soundtrack, it is supported by a short featurette of deleted scenes, none of which are particularly interesting. A trailer is the only other extra. Lack of a commentary is a sore point here - I would love to hear Jarmusch's comments on this movie. Ultimately then this is a cool movie destined to have a cult following, though it left me a little cold at times.
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