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copyright
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Plot synopsis Ghost Dog [Whitaker] is a sad-eyed, hulking black man, living alone – save the company of his pigeons -- on an inner-city rooftop, and following the teachings of Hakagure’s The Way of the Samurai as he executes periodic hits for Louie [Tormey], the local mobster who once saved his life. Ghost Dog serves Louie faithfully, performing his jobs with perfect, calm precision and maintaining constant respect. But when he inadvertently performs a hit right in front of the head mobster’s daughter, the Mafiosi are not pleased. They order a hit on Ghost Dog – only problem is, no one, not even Louie, seems to know a thing about the mysterious warrior. Louie doesn’t even know where Ghost Dog lives, since their communications have always taken place solely via carrier pigeon, but his bosses have made it clear: he’ll have to kill Ghost Dog, or be killed himself.
Review Forest
Whitaker has a great face. With his heavy-lidded left eye and broad,
scarred face, he looks simultaneously threatening, sage and capable of
great compassion. All of which makes him absolutely perfect as the
titular character, and the primary reason that Ghost Dog is so
engaging. Don’t let the word "samurai" in the title fool
you: this is no action movie. There’s some bloody gunplay, a single,
beautifully poetic rooftop sword scene, some deliberately, hilariously
absurd dialogue (example: Ghost Dog’s best friend is a Haitian ice
cream vendor who doesn’t speak a word of English. Ghost Dog doesn’t
understand a word of French. The two "converse" perfectly
nonetheless), and a whole lot of slow-moving, dreamy sequences following
Ghost Dog around in a lonely contemporary cityscape. If the parallels
between modern mob culture/gang culture and ancient Japanese values
whoosh right over your head, you’ll still find plenty to like in the
film’s endearingly offbeat characters, elegant stylistic pastiche (Jarmusch
alludes to everything from Scorsese-esque mob dramas, to samurai films,
to classic cartoons), and grooving hip-hop soundtrack.
---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home .
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