Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Released 1999
Stars Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Isaach De Bankolé, Tricia Vessey, Victor Argo
Directed by Jim Jarmusch

It helps to understand that the hero of "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" is crazy. Well, of course he is. He lives in a shack on a rooftop with his pigeons. He dresses like a homeless man. "He has no friends and never talks to anybody," according to the mother of the little girl in the movie. Actually, he does talk: to the little girl and to a Haitian ice cream man. The Haitian speaks no English and Ghost Dog speaks no French, so they simply speak in their own languages and are satisfied with that. What's your diagnosis?

Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a killer for the mob. He got into this business because one day a mobster saved his life--and so, since he follows The Way of the Samurai, he must dedicate his life to his master. It seems strange that a black man would devote his life to doing hired killing for a group of Italian-American gangsters after having met only one of them. But then it's strange, too, that Ghost Dog lives like a medieval Japanese samurai. The whole story is so strange, indeed, that I've read some of the other reviews in disbelief. Are movie critics so hammered by absurd plots that they can't see how truly, profoundly weird "Ghost Dog" is? The reviews treat it matter of factly: Yeah, here's this hit man, he lives like a samurai, he gets his instructions by pigeon, blah . . . blah . . . and then they start talking about the performances and how the director, Jim Jarmusch, is paying homage to Kurosawa and "High Noon."

But the man is insane! In a quiet, sweet way, he is totally unhinged and has lost all touch with reality. His profound sadness, which permeates the touching Whitaker performance, comes from his alienation from human society, his loneliness, his attempt to justify inhuman behavior (murder) with a belief system (the samurai code) that has no connection with his life or his world. Despite the years he's spent studying The Way of the Samurai, he doesn't even reflect that since his master doesn't subscribe to it, their relationship is meaningless.

Summary by Roger Ebert

This movie was fun because it's very bizarre but takes itself very seriously. I smiled as elements from gangster, samurai, and boyz 'n the hood genres were mixed into an art film. It's always dangerous to do something like this so seriously, because the end result may be laughably asinine. "Ghost Dog" works, however, because of its attitude, which oozes from the screen. I liked how all of the characters watched violent cartoons such as Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker, and Itchy & Scratchy. The violence in the movie mimicks that in the cartoons, which is one of the director's points about our society that's saturated with violence. My favorite moment of absurdity was when a character watches a cartoon where a guy points a gun up a drainpipe and shoots someone in the shower. Shortly thereafter Ghost Dog uses a similar trick to kill one of the mobsters. Yet it's all done seriously with no sly winks to the camera. One thing that may make this film difficult for white, middle-age people like me is the rap soundtrack, which plays a large part in the film. I had to mute several of the "songs," but I was able to get past that to enjoy the film. I didn't love it, but i did enjoy it. --Bill Alward, July 2, 2001