Rating: R
Genre:
Crime
Theatrical Release: 03/03/2000(USA)
Release Date: 09/25/2001
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 116 Minutes
Flags: Graphic Violence, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Live/Artisan
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.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide