History YMMV / GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai

-->"It seems strange that a black man would devote his life to doing hired killing for a group of Italian-American gangsters after having met only one of them. But then it's strange, too, that Ghost Dog lives like a medieval Japanese samurai. The whole story is so strange, indeed, that I've read some of the other reviews in disbelief. Are movie critics so hammered by absurd plots that they can't see how truly, profoundly weird "Ghost Dog" is? The reviews treat it matter of factly: Yeah, here's this hit man, he lives like a samurai, he gets his instructions by pigeon, blah . . . blah . . . and then they start talking about the performances and how the director, Jim Jarmusch, is paying homage to Kurosawa and "High Noon." But the man is insane! In a quiet, sweet way, he is totally unhinged and has lost all touch with reality. His profound sadness, which permeates the touching Whitaker performance, comes from his alienation from human society, his loneliness, his attempt to justify inhuman behavior (murder) with a belief system (the samurai code) that has no connection with his life or his world. Despite the years he's spent studying The Way of the Samurai , he doesn't even reflect that since his master doesn't subscribe to it, their relationship is meaningless."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Was Louise Vargo merely avenging her father when ordering Louie to kill Ghost Dog, or did she orchestrate the entire affair to seize control over the mob? It's very possible she took a made man as a lover knowing Ghost Dog would be the most likely one ordered to kill him, ensured she witnessed it so that the bosses would retaliate, and knew Ghost Dog would kill them all for betraying him, leaving Ghost Dog a simple loose end to be tied up by Louie. Notably, Louise has taken on a more professional look by the end, and her chauffeur follows her orders instead of Louie's.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Was Louise Vargo merely avenging her father when ordering Louie to kill Ghost Dog, or did she orchestrate the entire affair to seize control over the mob? It's very possible she took an underling as a lover knowing Ghost Dog would be the most likely one ordered to kill him, ensured she witnessed it so that the bosses would consider Ghost Dog a loose end, and knew Ghost Dog would kill them all for betraying him. Then it would simply be a matter of having Louie prove his loyalty by killing Ghost Dog. Notably, Louise has taken on a more professional look by the end, and her chauffeur follows her orders instead of Louie's.

-->"It seems strange that a black man would devote his life to doing hired killing for a group of Italian-American gangsters after having met only one of them. But then it's strange, too, that Ghost Dog lives like a medieval Japanese samurai. The whole story is so strange, indeed, that I've read some of the other reviews in disbelief. Are movie critics so hammered by absurd plots that they can't see how truly, profoundly weird "Ghost Dog" is? The reviews treat it matter of factly: Yeah, here's this hit man, he lives like a samurai, he gets his instructions by pigeon, blah . . . blah . . . and then they start talking about the performances and how the director, Jim Jarmusch, is paying homage to Kurosawa and "High Noon." But the man is insane! In a quiet, sweet way, he is totally unhinged and has lost all touch with reality. His profound sadness, which permeates the touching Whitaker performance, comes from his alienation from human society, his loneliness, his attempt to justify inhuman behavior (murder) with a belief system (the samurai code) that has no connection with his life or his world. Despite the years he's spent studying The Way of the Samurai , he doesn't even reflect that since his master doesn't subscribe to it, their relationship is meaningless."
* ValuesDissonance: In keeping with his ancient samurai code, Ghost Dog obeys Louie without question, even if this means becoming a hitman.
** Ghost Dog's murder of the two hunters for killing a bear also qualifies, even if they were poaching.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: More than one actually. There are a couple interactions with seemingly unrelated characters. Such interactions include the men in red, the park freestyle rappers, the would be mugger getting roundhouse kicked (by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Yan_Ming Shi Yan Ming]]).

** Right before the first scene with Pearline, Ghost Dog is eating an ice cream cone and watching four guys rhyming few benches away. The beat they use is form Raekwon's 1995 song "Ice Cream".

*** The showy gun twirling used by him is recreation of the shiburi, the traditional samurai sword-cleaning twirl, adapted for handguns.

* LawfulNeutral: Ghost Dog is utterly devoted to his samurai code. He can go seamlessly from mob hitman to nice neighborhood guy, balancing out to neutral territory.

** Ghost Dog encounters two strangers in the countryside who have killed a black bear out of season. He avenges the bear by [[DisproportionateRetribution killing one hunter and wounding the other]], arguing that the ancients saw bears as equal to humans.

** Ghost crosses paths with a man wearing all army gear played by the [[Music/WuTangClan RZA]], seemingly building to a showdown. When they meet they merely greet each other in a fashion that insinuates this man may also be a contract killer and part ways[[note]]"Power Equality"/"Always See Everything" Note what the first letters of the words spell.[[/note]]. This person is never seen nor mentioned again.

* GeniusBonus: A ''lot'' of small details about Ghost Dog's behaviour follow that of a samurai, without any additional exposition provided.
** He takes his payment from Louie on the first day of autumn, a traditional time when daimyō was providing his samurais with their [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koku koku]].
** Another one is the way Handsom Frank is executed. Ghost Dog shoots him first in the stomach, then in the chest, then in the head. These shots follow the same pattern as seppuku, Japanese ritual suicide, in which the first cut with a sword or knife is made across the belly, the second cut up toward the sternum, and finally the suicide dips his head and is decapitated by his assistant.
** The showy gun twirling used by him is recreation of the shiburi, the traditional samurai sword-cleaning twirl, adapted for handguns.

** Ghost crosses paths with a man wearing all army gear played by the [[WuTangClan RZA]], seemingly building to a showdown. When they meet they merely greet each other in a fashion that insinuates this man may also be a contract killer and part ways[[note]]"Power Equality"/"Always See Everything" Note what the first letters of the words spell.[[/note]]. This person is never seen nor mentioned again.

** Ghost crosses paths with a man wearing all army gear played by the [[WuTangClan RZA]], seemingly building to a showdown. When they meet they merely greet each other in a fashion that insinuates this man may also be a contract killer and part ways. This person is never seen nor mentioned again.

** The most standout is the [[WuTangClan RZA]] cameo.
** Ghost crosses paths with a man wearing all army gear, seemingly building to a showdown. When they meet they merely greet each other in a fashion that insinuates this man may also be a contract killer and part ways. This person is never seen nor mentioned again.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Ghost Dog is arguably more honorable than the mobsters he hunts, showing {{undying loyalty}} and gratitude to Louie. However, he is '''not''' a good man. He kills people for a living, steals cars and license plates in the course of his work, and even steals an innocent couple's ''clothes'' at gunpoint.

* FauxSymbolism: Ghost Dog has a meeting of the minds with [[FriendToAllLivingThings a mysterious dog]].

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: More than one actually. There are a couple interactions with seemingly unrelated characters. Such interactions include the men in red, the park freestyle rappers, the would be mugger getting roundhouse kicked (by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Yan_Ming Shi Yan Ming]]). The most standout is the [[WuTangClan RZA]] cameo. Ghost crosses paths with a man wearing all army gear, seemingly building to a showdown. When they meet they merely greet each other in a fashion that insinuates this man may also be a contract killer and part ways. This person is never seen nor mentioned again.