Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

This is the fifth installment in an ongoing series of reviews that look at the Samurai tradition in film and books. The previous reviews in the series are Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto, and Hagakure.

For those who have been following these reviews, this will seem like something of a digression. This review represents a change in plan. We are, for the moment, leaving the world of classic Japanese film, and jumping to modern day America. We will soon be returning to post war Japan.

Director Jim Jarmusch (Stranger than Paradise, Down by Law) is known for creating quirky characters, and strange situations (as well as being known for the hair of a madman). He has a way of creating a subtle juxtaposition between the realistic and the absurd that can serve to be illustrative of the human condition. He is also known for using a largely static camera, and a lot of wide shots.

His most recent film, Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, is no exception. It is a sort of hip-hop version of a Kurosawa film; melding the world of the Samurai in feudal Japan with the inner workings of the Mafia in modern day America.

Forrest Whitaker (The Color of Money, Good Morning Vietnam) plays Ghost Dog, a modern day Samurai. He works as a Mafia Hit man for a man named Louie, who once saved his life. Louie is a mafia thug. Ghost Dog doesn’t care. He does this work out of loyalty. He follows a strict code of honor, as any good samurai must.

When not killing people he reads from the Hagakure, and spends time with his best friend Raymond, an ice cream vendor who doesn't speak English. The language barrier does not seem to interfere with their ability to communicate. In fact, Raymond often seems to understand more about his friend than someone who spoke his language would. This is just the sort of quirkiness we expect from Jarmusch.

The Hagakure is a handbook for samurai. It instructs the samurai on how to live, how to act, even how to dress. Ghost Dog follows these rules exactly. There are many passages from the Hagakure presented throughout the film. They are illustrative, as well as beautiful.

The films plot centers around the aftermath of a contract killing Ghost Dog performed. The daughter of a Mafioso was present during the hit, and now the boss wants Ghost Dog killed. This is a film largely about retribution. Ghost Dog goes about killing as many Mafioso as he can, without breaking his code of honor, or betraying his boss. A samurai must die, before betraying an employer. Even if that employer has betrayed him. Honor is the ideal in operation here. Ghost Dog cannot target Louie, even if he knows that Louie is attempting to engineer his death. That, my friends, is the way of the samurai.

Ghost Dog is filled with the sort of Wry wit one expects from Jarmusch. Characters behave in ways that American audiences are not used to. In fact, at times it seems downright surreal. This is the special talent that Jarmusch has: to mix humor, absurdity, surrealism, and realism into a seamless tapestry.

Whitaker barely speaks in this film. He plays the silent, strong hero. He attempts to lend an aura of disinterest to everything. As a samurai, he gives little regard to life. Relationships, property, personal gain; this things do not matter. All that matters is the way of the Samurai. All that matters is honor.

Whitaker is the opposite of Toshiro Mifune. Mifune, who has become the standard picture of the samurai, was angular, handsome, and intense. Whitaker is bored, round, and has an odd look to him. Mifune was the samurai who broke the samurai rules. He would, in the end, follow his own ethical code (see Yojimbo, for a good example of the samurai betraying his boss, forgetting the rules, and doing what he believes to be right). Whitaker follows the samurai code no matter what.

Whitaker has slightly droopy eyes, which actually lend the correct attitude to this character. It is almost as if he cares so little that he could doze off at any moment. Ghost Dog has ceased to care about anything.

Whitaker has created for us, a new vision of the samurai. He has done it marvelously. He is enjoyable to watch. And you can’t watch his samurai without drawing immediate comparisons to the great films of this genre.

The film is full of nice touches. There is a moment when Ghost Dog gives a little girl a copy of the book Rashomon, and other stories, then realizes that it is probably way above her level of comprehension. He tells her that she doesn’t have to read it until she is older. Later, we see her slouched on the floor, reading intently from this book. These moments lend a sweetness to the film, that is normally absent from Samurai pictures. However, they do not detract from the tough quality of Whitaker’s samurai. In fact, that he is capable of kindness to a child only intensifies the power of his brutality to adults. It is worth mentioning that he is a cold killer, but since he kills for hire it is not his conscious that is bloodied.

Ghost Dog Way of the Samurai fits nicely in the tradition of samurai films. Although it doesn’t have the power of Yojimbo, or Seven Samurai, it does manage to entertain and excite. It keeps us more than interested. By moving the samurai tale from Feudal Japan, into the modern day inner city, it manages to make us look at this type of story in a different light. It causes us to reassess all of the movies that came before it. This is a good thing.

By injecting wry, ironic humor, it freshens a genre that has been around for a long time. It manages to come across as genuine homage and not as cold rip off. I must say that I recommend this movie strongly. I loved it, and will watch it many times over the years.

The DVD has very few good extras. It contains a few deleted scenes, some trailers and TV spots, and a very brief documentary. I was longing for running commentary by Jarmusch. Such a commentary could shed much light on his intentions. Oh well.

This has been the fifth installment in my continuing series, The Samurai Papers. The next review will get us back on course. Next up, Sanjuro (I’ve said that before, but this time I promise).

The previous reviews in this series were:

Yojimbo
Seven Samurai
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Hagakure

I hope you are enjoying these reviews. We’ll talk again very soon.

Nathan Tyree







Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older