#1057: JARMUSCH, Jim: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
JARMUSCH, Jim (United States)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai [1999]
Spine #1057
Blu-ray
Jim Jarmusch combined his love for the ice-cool crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville and Seijun Suzuki with the philosophical dimensions of samurai mythology for an eccentrically postmodern take on the hit-man thriller. In one of his defining roles, Forest Whitaker brings a commanding serenity to his portrayal of a Zen contract killer working for a bumbling mob outfit, a modern man who adheres steadfastly to the ideals of the Japanese warrior code even as chaos and violence spiral around him. Featuring moody cinematography by the great Robby Müller, a sublime score by the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, and a host of colorful character actors (including a memorably stone-faced Henry Silva), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai plays like a pop-culture-sampling cinematic mixtape built around a one-of-a-kind tragic hero.
116 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writer
Jim Jarmusch was 46 when he wrote and directed Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.
Other Jarmusch films in the Collection:
#400: Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
#166: Down By Law (1986)
#521: Mystery Train (1989)
#401: Night on Earth (1991)
#919: Dead Man (1995)
The Film
#400: Stranger Than Paradise (1984)
#166: Down By Law (1986)
#521: Mystery Train (1989)
#401: Night on Earth (1991)
#919: Dead Man (1995)
The Film
The Booklet
Forty-four page booklet featuring essays by critics Jonathan Rosenbaum and Greg Tate, a 2000 interview with Jarmusch, and quotations from Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, by the early-eighteenth-century monk Yamamoto Tsunetomo.
Commentary
None.
Q&A
With Jarmusch, in which he responds to questions sent in by fans.
Conversation
Between actors Whitaker and Isaach De Bankolé, moderated by film scholar Michael B. Gillespie.
Interview 1
With casting director Ellen Lewis.
Interview 2
With Shifu Shi Yan Ming, founder of the USA Shaolin Temple.
Flying Birds: The Music of “Ghost Dog”
A video essay on RZA’s score by filmmaker Daniel Raim.
The Odyssey: A Journey into the Life of a Samurai
A 2000 program on the making of the film.
Deleted scenes and outtakes
Archival interviews
Trailer
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