Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Genres - Drama, Action, Adventure, Crime  |   Sub-Genres - Crime Drama, Gangster Film, Parody/Spoof  |   Release Date - Mar 3, 2000 (USA)  |   Run Time - 115 min.  |   Countries - Germany, France, Japan, United States  |   MPAA Rating - R
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A surreal crime drama told as only Jim Jarmusch could, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai stars Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog, a hit man living in an unidentified but run-down city in what license plates call "The Industrialized State." Known for his gift of being able to come and go without people noticing him, Ghost Dog is a self-taught samurai who is obsessed with order and his strict personal moral code, drawn from the philosophies of the Japanese warriors. As every samurai needs a leader to whom he swears loyalty, Ghost Dog has devoted himself the service of Louie (John Tormey), a low-level crime boss who once saved his life. When Louie's superiors decide he must be executed, Ghost Dog leaps into action, methodically wiping out his many enemies. Along with a dizzying series of stylized shoot-outs, Ghost Dog also features carrier pigeons, characters who read Rashomon, a French-speaking ice cream man, and a score by RZA from the top-selling hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, who have their own well-documented obsession with Asian culture. Ghost Dog was screened in competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

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Keywords

hitman, offbeat, Samurai, gangster, philosophy

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Sleeper