Displaying all 2 Review

• The Last Samouraï — for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
  Written by lezard on 07.01.2022

  When Ghost Dog was released in 1999, Jim Jarmusch had already shot 6 fiction movies and a documentary. From the start he had a very distinctive style.

  A few guidelines :
  Unusual characters, loners and mavericks.
  Unforgettable soundtracks.
  A fantastic, almost anachronistic, use of black and white
  A laid back rythm.
  An off-beat, often irresistible, humour.

  With Ghost Dog, Jarmusch tackles a new genre, film moir, and paradoxically uses color.
  A hitman, Forest Whitaker, aka Ghost Dog, is an adept of the samourais' code of honor. He is devoted to a mafiosi because this one once saved his life. After a contract, which goes wrong, he becomes the mob's target.
  This is a movie about transfer, about the confrontation between the ancient and the modern, about the consciousness of history. As such it will please the movie buffs through the numerous references to many classics (Kurosawa, Kazan, Suzuki for instance), but don't worry ! If you don't know the classics your pleasure won't be lessened. Whether you spot them or not these references are part of the main theme: memory and tradition.
  No modernity is possible without the knowledge of the past. Those (the wisemen) who treat the blacks, the Indians as primitives are so ignorant and stupid that it's a great source of fun.
  Forest Whitaker is great. Like many of Jarmusch « heroes », he drifts, most of the time silent, on a great urban soundtrack composed by RZA. As a swinging shadow, wearing hoodies or suits he is a creature of the night and melts in the shade.
  Solitary by character, outsider by necessity he seldom befriends people, except excentrics like him.
  A great moment of fun, intelligence and emotion.
  This movie confirms the Jarmusch's touch : elegance and delicacy.

• Knowledge to knowledge baby — for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
  Written by schnaeckerdt on 18.11.2009

  I firstly saw this movie on TV. And I was fascinated. Not only by the way it was shot. But also by the acting and the samurai phylosophy that is a big part of this film.
  The soundtrack by the RZA, who also produced the soundtrack of Kill Bill, is very suitable. For Wu Tang Clan this man allready produced some samurai influenced tracks in the past.
  But if you think you are going to see a simular film to Kill Bill you will be deceived. You don't have to expect a very fast storyline and a lot of action.
  Quickly summarized, the story is about an assassin (Ghostdog), living a lonely life on a rooftop full of pigeons. He lives like a samurai. His wisdom comes from a book: 'The code of the samurai'. Every now and then we read a line from this book.
  A member of the maffia saved his life as a kid and therefore he consideres this man as his master. He kills for his master and contacts him only trough his pigeons.
  When he must kill a maffiaboss it is the maffiacode to kill him. Eventually his master is the one to do this.
  The few social contacts Ghostdog has are very moving. His only friend is a french speaking icecream salesman. Although they speak another language they understand each other perfectly.
  Also very nicely portraited is the relationship he develops with a little girl, sitting on a bench in the park. The girl likes to read and they talk about books. In the end this girl is the one to inherit 'The code of the samurai'.
  The story is as simple as strong. And Jim Jarmusch shot the film very beautifully.
  I bought it on DVD and it is a valuable accession to my collection.