Ghost Dog, la voie du samouraï (1999)

An African-American Mafia hit man who models himself after the samurai of old finds himself targeted for death by the mob.

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch

Stars:

Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, John Tormey

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Forest Whitaker	...	Ghost Dog
John Tormey	...	Louie
Cliff Gorman	...	Sonny Valerio
Dennis Liu	...	Chinese Restaurant Owner
Frank Minucci	...	Big Angie
Richard Portnow	...	Handsome Frank
Tricia Vessey	...	Louise Vargo
Henry Silva	...	Ray Vargo
Gene Ruffini	...	Old Consigliere
Frank Adonis	...	Valerio's Bodyguard
Victor Argo	...	Vinny
Damon Whitaker	...	Young Ghost Dog
Kenny Guay	...	Boy in Window
Vince Viverito	...	Johnny Morini
Gano Grills	...	Gangsta in Red

Storyline

A hitman who lives by the code of the samurai, works for the mafia and finds himself in their crosshairs when his recent job doesn't go according to plan. Now he must find a way to defend himself and his honor while retaining the code he lives by.

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Plot Keywords:

pigeon | contract killing | self taught | mafia boss | crime boss | 

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Taglines:

Live by the code. Die by the code.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official webpage in Poland

Country:

France Germany USA Japan

Language:

English French

Release Date:

24 March 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghost Dog, la voie du samouraï

Filming Locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

FRF 5,895,446 (France), 14 October 1999, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$166,344, 5 March 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,308,029

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,072,444

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pandora Filmproduktion,Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD),Degeto Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In several scenes in the movie the main character can be seen wearing a shirt that has Chinese writing on it. The text is from the Qing dynasty and means "All things are impermanent, this is the rule of creation and destruction, once created already extinguished, silently ending is the path to happiness." (Pin yin: zhu xing wu chang, shi sheng mie fa, sheng mie mie yi, ji mie wei yue)

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Goofs

In the confrontation between Ghost Dog and Mr. Vargo just before Mr. Vargo is shot, two small irregular patches can be seen on Mr. Vargo's left lapel where the tiny charges are set that will simulate gunshots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears, and swords. Being carried away by surging waves. Being thrown into the midst of a great fire. Being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake. Falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease, or committing seppuku at the death of one's ...

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Crazy Credits

Not the Executive Producer Bart Walker

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Connections

References Dead Man (1995)

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Soundtracks

From Then Till Now
Written by Walter Reed, Ernest Aye, D. Black, J. Barry, W. Warwick
Performed by Killah Priest
Published by Rudy Zariya/Solomon Publishing ASCAP/IllBase Music BMI/
EMI Unart Catalog, Inc. (BMI)/Regent Music Corp. (BMI)
Courtesy of Universal/MCA Records

User Reviews

I live by a code

The movie is about codes of conduct, with 2 main codes that are dying out or are dead.

One is the code of the Mafia the other is the Samurai.

The basic plot is this. One of the Mafia wiseguys must be killed as he is having an affair with the daughter of the Mafia Don.

The person they get to do it is an African American who lives by the code of the Samurai and goes by the name of Ghost Dog. To be honest, I have met many Japanafiles so this is not so unbelievable.

But the code of the Mafia means that if you kill a wiseguy then you must be killed or the Mafia person who hired him must be killed.

Jim Jarmusch makes movies where the characters close relations based on only very small things. The Mafia wiseguy saved Ghost Dogs life, so now he must be his retainer. He lives off the land (lives on a roof, steals the cars and equipment he needs to do a job). There is also a friendship between 2 people who don't speak the same language. It is the connection between people that is so important here.

If you saw Dead man and like it, then you will love Ghost Dog. It is funny, serious, dark, tragic and beautiful all at the same time. Dead man missed the mark with some similar themes (though the DVD of Dead man has some deleted scenes that would have made the movie much better and reflected better the idea of small connections being strong connections).

I loved this movie, and I don't expect everyone else to. Art house movies have small audiences for this exact reason. I know a lot of people who avoided this movie because they thought it was cheesy. The answer is, yes it is, and most of the bad reviews reflect this same idea.

Also I love the sound track, with lots of Phat beats, and uses Hip Hop (African American culture) to reflect Japanese culture.