#1057: JARMUSCH, Jim: Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (1999)

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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
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writer


Jim Jarmusch was 46 when he wrote and directed Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.


A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

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

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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