I just watched Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, on Netflix. A movie from 1999 Directed by Jim Jarmusch, (who is one of my favorite movie directors).
I saw this film when it first came out but have not even watched a second of it since then. I remember small parts of it and that overall I felt it was just okay. I remember thinking it was not nearly the experience I had when watching Jarmusch's movie Dead Man. (In my top tier of all time favorite movies). I must say this second viewing I was much more impressed.
I really liked the nod in Ghost Dog to Dead man; A character played by actor Gary Farmer is on a rooftop with pigeons when the mobsters are looking for another similar guy, (Ghost Dog). Of course Farmer plays the wonderfully acted and fascinating character Nobody, in Dead Man. And after the mobsters shoot one of his pigeon he whips out Nobody's classic line. . . . (watch the movies you'll appreciate it better than me telling you, or if you have then you know the line).
There are more parallels between these two movies by Jarmusch than I first thought. The western woods of early industrial America (Dead Man) is replaced by an urban inner city ghetto and mobster hangouts. Instead of cowboys wastefully shooting seemingly endless buffaloes from a train, Ghost Dog comes across modern white man shooting black bears because "there are not that many of them left" (see the irony?). The 'dead man' this time is Ghost Dog. But of course, unlike William Blake (John Depp's character in Dead Man) Ghost Dog already knows he is dead. (Effectively dead, a chain of events has been set in motion that is irreversible). For Ghost Dog this happens when he is a young man and saved by death from a Gangster. He at some point (assumingly) absorbs the Japanese Book of the Samurai and later returns to the gangster to resolve his debt and become his retainer (assassin).
So the protagonist this time around is much more aware of his own destiny and his own fate. He is much more at peace and sublime than the transformational and traveling William Blake is. Which kind of makes sense this being the later movie of the two. Also there could be another layer to the 'Nobody' reference in Ghost Dog. This time around the incarnated soul does not need the guide and protection of Nobody, he is on an equal level as he is (they are both rooftop pigeon handlers). So the two movies are not as far apart as I first thought they were, or at least in my viewpoint, I now see a lot of layers between the two. And together they form quite a pair of works from whom I consider one of my all time favorite artists in Jarmusch. It makes me want to quit painting and make movies, because his movies are like wonderful large modern moving paintings. What I do is nothing comparatively.
I wrote last post about how when you see a piece of art (or poem or movie or song, album, work of an artist, etc) sometimes it doesn't grab you the first time. Only later (sometimes years later) do the realizations come of what might be some of the deeper intent that the artist put in their work. For lack of a better phrase, this time around you really 'get it'. You understand the piece. Or at least you are filled with a sense of awe and a bit of understanding you didn't have before. (Ideally your mind is blown, which is a wonderful starting point for creativity to sprout).
So I watched the movie again just now for the first time in over a decade and I feel like I did not even see the same movie as before, but obviously it has to be the same movie (mind blown right now). It is a much more subtle movie in a lot of ways as compared to Dead Man. One way to look at it from a personal level is that a bit older now, I appreciate some of the simpler things in life, like in the movie. The scenes with Forrest Whitaker for example commanding his troop of carrier pigeons from his ancient Japanese-looking shack on a roof in the ghetto. I mean it's not a lot of drama on the surface of that moment but there is a lot that is going on. Releasing the birds from the pen, and they charge out to Ghost Dog smiling. They all storm into the air into formation with each other. He whips his red flags around and they respond accordingly to Ghost Dog's (and mine) delight. You feel the freedom of the birds in the sky and the unity between themselves and Ghost Dog. A very brief but poignant moment. The first time around I just did not appreciate the more simple but eloquent parts of this movie like that.
Or when he is sleeping on his rooftop with bird seed and pigeons all around. It's Forrest Whitaker and the ghetto but it's also a samurai in ancient Japan. I mean the reference is clear and brilliantly drawn out for us. Beauty in simplicity. One aspect I think I understand and appreciate about Japanese culture is that simplicity is a valued quality, like short but poignant Japanese poems. They say a lot by saying a little. Obviously that is part of what Jarmusch was going for in drawing parallels between this hired gun mob assassin from the hood and ancient Japanese samurai culture, "Sometimes the ancient ways are best, ..old school ways.", says Ghost Dog near the end of the movie. It really hits home (at least for me it did) the aspect of honor in war.
There is a lot to contemplate in Ghost Dog and it is a beautiful film. One little thing I liked is the old cartoons the mobsters are watching in different scenes of the movie. In one instance where Ghost Dog is in a forested area hiding when he is distracted by a woodpecker, the scene switches and in the same moment it's the mobster's hangout, one of them is watching a Woody Woodpecker short where he is confronting a ghost. I mean the reference is obvious I just missed it before.
That is how i see this movie now. It is like a lyrical poem (in a direct way - using the quotes from the Book of the Samurai) but also in a visual and playful sense also. Like the cartoon thing above, there are a lot of simple, cleverly woven threads in this movie that together make a very poetic movie. It is my opinion that these two movies (Dead Man and Ghost Dog) are definitely like paintings in a series. I recommend all of Jarmusch's movies and these two specifically.
The Book of the Samurai is an interesting view of ancient Japan from a warrior's perspective. Some of it can be dismissed as inconsequential, but a lot of it is interesting general wisdom that can be taken out of context and applied to many universal situations. I will leave you with a quote from it that was not featured in the movie. This has not a lot to do with the movie but it's one of the passages that grabbed my attention. It also ties into the sentiment expressed at the end of the last post. (I am not saying I agree entirely, but it is very interesting, much like a lot of the book).
I saw this film when it first came out but have not even watched a second of it since then. I remember small parts of it and that overall I felt it was just okay. I remember thinking it was not nearly the experience I had when watching Jarmusch's movie Dead Man. (In my top tier of all time favorite movies). I must say this second viewing I was much more impressed.
I really liked the nod in Ghost Dog to Dead man; A character played by actor Gary Farmer is on a rooftop with pigeons when the mobsters are looking for another similar guy, (Ghost Dog). Of course Farmer plays the wonderfully acted and fascinating character Nobody, in Dead Man. And after the mobsters shoot one of his pigeon he whips out Nobody's classic line. . . . (watch the movies you'll appreciate it better than me telling you, or if you have then you know the line).
There are more parallels between these two movies by Jarmusch than I first thought. The western woods of early industrial America (Dead Man) is replaced by an urban inner city ghetto and mobster hangouts. Instead of cowboys wastefully shooting seemingly endless buffaloes from a train, Ghost Dog comes across modern white man shooting black bears because "there are not that many of them left" (see the irony?). The 'dead man' this time is Ghost Dog. But of course, unlike William Blake (John Depp's character in Dead Man) Ghost Dog already knows he is dead. (Effectively dead, a chain of events has been set in motion that is irreversible). For Ghost Dog this happens when he is a young man and saved by death from a Gangster. He at some point (assumingly) absorbs the Japanese Book of the Samurai and later returns to the gangster to resolve his debt and become his retainer (assassin).
So the protagonist this time around is much more aware of his own destiny and his own fate. He is much more at peace and sublime than the transformational and traveling William Blake is. Which kind of makes sense this being the later movie of the two. Also there could be another layer to the 'Nobody' reference in Ghost Dog. This time around the incarnated soul does not need the guide and protection of Nobody, he is on an equal level as he is (they are both rooftop pigeon handlers). So the two movies are not as far apart as I first thought they were, or at least in my viewpoint, I now see a lot of layers between the two. And together they form quite a pair of works from whom I consider one of my all time favorite artists in Jarmusch. It makes me want to quit painting and make movies, because his movies are like wonderful large modern moving paintings. What I do is nothing comparatively.
I wrote last post about how when you see a piece of art (or poem or movie or song, album, work of an artist, etc) sometimes it doesn't grab you the first time. Only later (sometimes years later) do the realizations come of what might be some of the deeper intent that the artist put in their work. For lack of a better phrase, this time around you really 'get it'. You understand the piece. Or at least you are filled with a sense of awe and a bit of understanding you didn't have before. (Ideally your mind is blown, which is a wonderful starting point for creativity to sprout).
So I watched the movie again just now for the first time in over a decade and I feel like I did not even see the same movie as before, but obviously it has to be the same movie (mind blown right now). It is a much more subtle movie in a lot of ways as compared to Dead Man. One way to look at it from a personal level is that a bit older now, I appreciate some of the simpler things in life, like in the movie. The scenes with Forrest Whitaker for example commanding his troop of carrier pigeons from his ancient Japanese-looking shack on a roof in the ghetto. I mean it's not a lot of drama on the surface of that moment but there is a lot that is going on. Releasing the birds from the pen, and they charge out to Ghost Dog smiling. They all storm into the air into formation with each other. He whips his red flags around and they respond accordingly to Ghost Dog's (and mine) delight. You feel the freedom of the birds in the sky and the unity between themselves and Ghost Dog. A very brief but poignant moment. The first time around I just did not appreciate the more simple but eloquent parts of this movie like that.
Or when he is sleeping on his rooftop with bird seed and pigeons all around. It's Forrest Whitaker and the ghetto but it's also a samurai in ancient Japan. I mean the reference is clear and brilliantly drawn out for us. Beauty in simplicity. One aspect I think I understand and appreciate about Japanese culture is that simplicity is a valued quality, like short but poignant Japanese poems. They say a lot by saying a little. Obviously that is part of what Jarmusch was going for in drawing parallels between this hired gun mob assassin from the hood and ancient Japanese samurai culture, "Sometimes the ancient ways are best, ..old school ways.", says Ghost Dog near the end of the movie. It really hits home (at least for me it did) the aspect of honor in war.
There is a lot to contemplate in Ghost Dog and it is a beautiful film. One little thing I liked is the old cartoons the mobsters are watching in different scenes of the movie. In one instance where Ghost Dog is in a forested area hiding when he is distracted by a woodpecker, the scene switches and in the same moment it's the mobster's hangout, one of them is watching a Woody Woodpecker short where he is confronting a ghost. I mean the reference is obvious I just missed it before.
That is how i see this movie now. It is like a lyrical poem (in a direct way - using the quotes from the Book of the Samurai) but also in a visual and playful sense also. Like the cartoon thing above, there are a lot of simple, cleverly woven threads in this movie that together make a very poetic movie. It is my opinion that these two movies (Dead Man and Ghost Dog) are definitely like paintings in a series. I recommend all of Jarmusch's movies and these two specifically.
The Book of the Samurai is an interesting view of ancient Japan from a warrior's perspective. Some of it can be dismissed as inconsequential, but a lot of it is interesting general wisdom that can be taken out of context and applied to many universal situations. I will leave you with a quote from it that was not featured in the movie. This has not a lot to do with the movie but it's one of the passages that grabbed my attention. It also ties into the sentiment expressed at the end of the last post. (I am not saying I agree entirely, but it is very interesting, much like a lot of the book).
"When in a more sophisticated area it is natural that one's disposition be affected by different styles. But it is vulgar and foolish to look down upon the ways of one's own district as being boorish, or to be even a bit open to the persuasion of the other place's ways and to think about giving up one's own. That one's own district is unsophisticated and unpolished is a great treasure. Imitating another style is simply a sham."
- from Book of the Samurai, by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
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