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In his previous films, writer/director Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man) seemed to take great pride in fusing different cultures together, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is certainly no different. The picture stars Forest Whitaker (Light it Up) as the titular Ghost Dog, a stealthy hit-man that follows an ancient Samurai code while working for New Jersey mobsters. Ghost Dog gives its protagonist a best friend that can't speak English and features a blistering hip-hop score from Wu-Tang Clan's RZA.
While that description may make Ghost Dog sound like a mess of a film, it remains pleasantly simple. Ghost Dog is a withdrawn, ninja-like loner that lives in a shack on the roof of a Jersey apartment building with his pigeons. He makes homemade weapons and burglary devices, and follows a strict ethical code that he follows to the letter. Constantly reading and referring to `Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai,' an 18th century Japanese code for warrior discipline, Ghost Dog insists on communicating with his bosses solely through carrier pigeons and is paid annually on the first day of autumn for the previous year's work.
How does a guy this quirky get hooked up with the mob, you ask? Years ago, a young Ghost Dog was saved during a beat-down by a gangster named Louie (John Tormey, Kiss Me Guido), who took the pup under his wing (in this scene, Ghost Dog is played by Damon Whitaker, Forest's younger brother) and slowly entrusts him with bigger and bigger tasks.
On one particular job, Ghost Dog is told to `take care of' a mobster named Handsome Frank (Richard Portnow, Howard Stern's dad in Private Parts), who is boffing Louise (Tricia Vessey, The Alarmist), the red-hot daughter of Vargo (Henry Silva, The End of Violence), the family's Don. Ghost Dog follows through on the hit, but is caught off-guard by Louise's presence at the scene. Louise's cool demeanor and the fact that she's reading `Rashomon' momentarily unnerves Ghost Dog and he quickly splits, becoming a target of the Mafia's wrath for leaving a witness to the hit.
Throw in Ghost Dog's odd relationships with a French-speaking ice cream hawker and a young girl from the projects that shares his fondness for a good read, and you've got…well, you've got a Jarmusch film. His work is generally geared much more toward character development than they are plot-driven, and Ghost Dog is no exception. His Mafia characters are almost cartoonish in nature, a point that the director emphasizes by having the Don watch Felix the Cat, Woody Woodpecker, Itchy & Scratchy and Betty Boop.
Jarmusch also uses quotes from `The Hagakure' as title card bumpers between scenes. The idea seems okay, but some of them are particularly absurd . Imagine you're enjoying a film and are hit with something like `There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking.' Dude, if I wanted to use my brain, I would have stayed home and read a book.
Still, Jarmusch does wonders with the culture clash between gangster, samurai and hip-hop. One of the goons admits that Flava Flav is his favorite rap star, quoting the Public Enemy second-fiddle with his tough Jersey accent. Cinematography wiz Robby Müller, who also worked on Dead Man, gives Ghost Dog a dark, seedy look, and RZA's score is likely to be one of the year's best.
1:55 - R for strong violence and language
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