Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999) Initial Thoughts

[R.Davis-Larry]

The film seems to present a lot of arguments about life and I am almost overwhelmed. I have not had a chance to pause each chapter excerpt that is in the film, but I think if I do that then I will be able to narrow down some of my ideas.

I want to figure out what the meaning of the birds is in regard to life. Birds appear to be free spirits, so I think this may be important to think more about. I also noticed that Forest Whitaker, Ghost Dog, uses white gloves when he steals vehicles. I think this may have some relation to the birds. I also noticed that crime is so common that in this city there is no concern about it at all. The only police officer we see in the film is that female cop who ends up getting shot by Louis’s friend.

I want to explore the meaning of the number two in the film. There is a lot of this number shown and even one of the excerpts refers to this number. Louis gets shot twice by his “retainer,” Ghost Dog. Ghost Dog sees Pearline only twice. He also sees the wandering dog twice. Louis also mentions to Valorio that he has only seen Ghost Dog twice meeting him.

The idea that Ghost Dog is a ghost is interesting because ghosts are souls that creep around and usually they present themselves during times of distress. Forest Whitaker’s character is not invisible, but perhaps all he is a damaged soul and that is how he is able to kill so many people with out any remorse or emotion. The idea of living life as a dream and moment by moment is appealing because it would bring more meaning to what we are during in the present rather than what we will be doing in the future. However, since so much of our lives are based on the future, it is extremely hard to do. We must plan for our retirement, graduations etc.

So, I have not had enough time to figure out what I want to write about nor have I figured out what the film is arguing. I have mainly just taken notes.

[khaney]

I agree with R.Davis-Larry that the presence of birds in the film is important. I think the important thing about the bird is what type of bird it is. Throughout the film, they make it clear that Ghost Dog's way of life is outdated and wrong. In the film, when the mob bosses are sitting around the table, discussing how Ghost Dog contacts Louie, they talk about how the type of bird he was using, a passenger pigeon, went extinct in 1914. I think that the tying of Ghost Dog to the bird is another way of demonstrating how out of place and uncommon Ghost Dog's way of existence is.

Another thing that R.Davis-Larry draws attention to is the lack of the presence of police in the setting of the film. I believe that the film is attempting to show the way in which cultures are capable of extinguishing other cultures. Through the lack of policing, I believe the film is trying to show us that society, without overt forces, is still capable of wiping out those it sees as opposed to it. Also, through removing police from the equation, the film is removing doubt. If police are not stopping Ghost Dog from living his way of life then one can't blame his cultures eventual extinction on a corrupt political institution, but rather have to blame our society as a whole.