Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Jim Jarmusch combines 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. The tenderness, vulnerability, and artistry of his performance stands in stark contrast to the methodical, cold-blooded tasks he is destined to carry out, further amplifying the genre-bending nature of the film and its fascination with violence, moral codes, and American hypermasculinity.

Featuring moody cinematography by the great Robby Müller, a mesmerizing score by the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, and a host of colorful character actors, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai plays like a pop-culture-sampling cinematic mixtape built around a one-of-a-kind tragic hero.

The film screens in a 35mm print courtesy of Janus Films.

"Ghost Dog allows Jarmusch the classic cineaste and consummate post­modernist to expand upon the genre sampling and remixing begun with his prison-break film, Down by Law (1986), and his Cormac McCarthy–esque take on the western, Dead Man (1995). Jarmusch uses Ghost Dog to up his game and rifle through three genres of which he’s enamored at once: samurai, Italian American gangster, and blaxploitation. Each of these, in modern revivals, requires a certain reverence for the internal, hypermasculine drives that cinematically energize the form while displaying a level of invention and play that can embrace slapstick and minimalist cool." — Greg Tate, "Ghost Dog: By the Book", The Criterion Collection

Part of our "Robby Müller: Light Work" series.  Courtesy of Janus Films.