Ghost Dog – The Way of the Samurai (2000)
88%RT Audience Score: 86%
Awards & Nominations: 1 win & 8 nominations
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a cinematic masterpiece that seamlessly blends traditional notions of honor, loyalty, and professionalism with a stylish and ironic pastiche inspired by the likes of Melville and Suzuki. Jim Jarmusch’s film is a sly and dreamy comedy about role-playing that freely mixes and matches Bushido philosophy, Mafia and samurai flicks, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and lo-fi hip-hop. The calculated weirdness of the film creates a simultaneous sense of something ending and beginning, making it a rare oddity that is very much of its period yet absolutely timeless. Ghost Dog is not just a film, it’s a work of art that captures the cool, the quirk, and the profundity of Jarmusch’s unique vision.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a film that’s as cool as a cucumber and as quirky as a cat wearing a top hat. It’s a mastermix of Bushido philosophy, Mafia and samurai flicks, and lo-fi hip-hop that somehow manages to be both sly and dreamy. Jim Jarmusch has created a film that’s highly original, insightful, and funny, while also paying tribute to traditional notions of honour, loyalty, friendship, and professionalism. It’s a head-scratcher of a film that’s worth the wear on your fingernails, and it’s definitely one of Jarmusch’s coolest features.
Production Company(ies)
Cinema ’84 Euro Film Funding, Hemdale
Distributor
Artisan Entertainment
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence and language
Year of Release
2000
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 56m
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Language(s):English, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 1999 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 15, 2000
Genre(s)
Crime/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Isaach De Bankolé, Tricia Vessey, directed by Jim Jarmusch, written by Jim Jarmusch, Crime, Drama, $3.3M box office, R MPAA rating, reviewed by Kambole Campbell, Geoff Andrew, Xan Brooks, Liam Lacey, Glenn Kenny, Mark Morris, Jonathan Ringen, Forest Whitaker as Ghost Dog, John Tormey as Louie, Cliff Gorman as Sonny Valerio, Henry Silva as Ray Vargo, Isaach De Bankolé as Raymond, Tricia Vessey as Louise Vargo, Richard Guay produced, Artisan Entertainment distributed, Surround sound mix, Dolby Digital sound mix, Scope (2.35:1) aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $9,380,473
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $16,269,640
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,792
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 1,774,225
US/Canada gross: $3,308,029
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $5,737,498
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,769
US/Canada opening weekend: $166,344
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $288,510
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,552
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
John Tormey – Louie
Cliff Gorman – Sonny Valerio
Henry Silva – Ray Vargo
Isaach De Bankolé – Raymond
Tricia Vessey – Louise Vargo
Director(s)
Jim Jarmusch
Writer(s)
Jim Jarmusch
Producer(s)
Richard Guay, Jim Jarmusch
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (101) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (84) | Rotten (17)
Even when aware of all the strange, disparate elements, it still surprises.
August 25, 2018
Kambole Campbell
One Room With A View
TOP CRITIC
At once a tribute to traditional notions of honour, loyalty, friendship and professionalism, and a stylish, ironic pastiche inspired by the likes of Melville and Suzuki, it’s very funny, insightful, and highly original.
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
This is a picture by turns amusing and melancholic, sweet-centred and dark-edged.
December 2, 2002
Xan Brooks
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
A handsomely shot, cool-sounding head-scratcher of a film that probably isn’t worth the wear on the fingernails.
April 5, 2002 | Rating: 2/4
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Less a pastiche than a mastermix from a cinematic DJ at the height of his formalist powers, Ghost Dog is pretty ill — but it’s not evil.
September 10, 2001
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine
TOP CRITIC
it’s original, sharply funny, and rather moving
April 17, 2001 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Morris
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
The film’s calculated weirdness can’t redeem a stale story.
May 27, 2022
Jonathan Ringen
Out Magazine
Ghost Dog is one of Jim Jarmusch’s coolest features in an oeuvre featuring some of the slickest characters ever. We may not need to understand everything we see, but that’s exactly the point.
July 27, 2021
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
Another Jim Jarmusch title, another opportunity to add some eccentric twists to a fairly ordinary story.
November 27, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Freely mixes and matches Bushido philosophy, Mafia and samurai flicks, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and lo-fi hip-hop into a sly and dreamy comedy about role-playing.
November 24, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Chris Barsanti
PopMatters
Ghost Dog has retained all of the cool, the quirk, the profundity it captured in a bottle in 1999… One gets the sense that never before Ghost Dog could this film have been possible, and, never since.
November 21, 2020
Ed Travis
Cinapse
The film is a rare oddity in that is very much of its period, yet is absolutely timeless. It’s not just that the poetry Jarmusch pulls from Hagakure … it’s that the film constantly creates a simultaneous sense of something ending and beginning.
November 11, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
Douglas Davidson
Elements of Madness…
Plot
A hitman who lives by the code of the samurai, works for the mafia and finds himself in their crosshairs when his recent job doesn’t go according to plan. Now he must find a way to defend himself and his honor while retaining the code he lives by.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film on Fresh Kernels.
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