[UA] [review] Ghost Dog

[Patrick O'Duffy]

This time, I'm reviewing Jim Jarmusch's new movie, GHOST DOG.  Yeah, I
know it's been out in the US for months - but it's only been out in
Australia for about 3-4 weeks.  Anyway, it's never to late to review
things - FREE LIVE FREE is about 20 years old.  As usual, this contains
spoilers.

SYNOPSIS
Ghost Dog is a professional hitman, a solitary Afro-American who has
dedicated his life to living by the code of the Japanese samurai.  He
lives on a rooftop, communicates by carrier pigeon, and rarely interacts
with the 'normal' world.  His employer is Louie, a mid-level solder in
the local Mafia (who seem comprised solely of middle-aged guys left over
from the 50's).  On his latest his, Ghost Dog is sent to kill Handsome
Frank, who's making time with the daughter of Don Vargo - but Vargo's
daughter witnesses the hit.  To cover up the fact that they killed one
of their own men, Louie's bosses decide to have Ghost Dog killed.
Slowly, dreamily, the battle lines are drawn, and Ghost Dog fights to
stay alive without compromising his samurai ideals.

MOVIE AS MOVIE
If someone else handled this idea, it'd be an action movie.  Instead,
it's written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, who turns it into a dreamy
fantasy/character study with occasional flashes of violence.  The film
isn't about the battle, but about the warrior - played with absolute
brilliance by Forest Whittaker.  His Ghost Dog is a deeply centred,
soulful man, solemn and spiritual, yet capable of tremendous violence.
We see his friends, his associates, his lifestyle, all framed
wonderfully by Jarmusch's sense of absurdism.  Couple this to a
fantastic soundtrack by RZA (of the Wu-Tang Clan), a seamless mix of
old-school hiphop, drum and bass beats and traditional Japanese
instruments and rhythms.  This neatly parallels the old-school vs
new-school themes of the movie; the Mafia (old) vs the black gangsta
(new), but also the samurai (old) vs the modern world.  GHOST DOG is a
breathtaking film, a work of beauty and delirious art.  You _need_ this
film.

MOVIE AS UA
Ghost Dog is a quintessential UA character; he follows an obsession, he
hews to a code, he lives in a unique lifestyle.  He's also a perfect
Avatar of the Executioner, right down to the motifs and items; and when
he breaks his taboos (even for good reason), he begins an inexorable
downward slide.  But it's not just Ghost Dog that is perfect US fodder.
Every character here is a shinign example, from the mob boss with a
fixation on Flavor Flav of Public Enemy (he's got tha funky fly flava)
to Raymond, the French ice-cream seller, to Louise Vargo, obsessed with
old cartoons.
And of course, there's the Mafia.  I see perfect parallels between the
occult underground and the real 'underworld' as crime, with one as a
metaphor for the other (Which?  Does it matter?).  In fact, between
GHOST DOG and THE SOPRANOS, I've been finally inspired for a UA
campaign.  I'm still hashing out the details of 'Gangland', but I'll
post the framework to the list sometime for feedback.  But even if
you're _not_ me (and the chances of that are pretty good), you can still
find so much within GHOST DOG to energize your campaign that it's a
must-see movie.

(And hey, see Jarmusch's other films while you're at it.  NIGHT ON EARTH
and DEAD MAN are my favourites.)

--
Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia

I want to be President because I hate you.  I want to fuck with you.
I want to make you shut up and do things properly.  Get through your
doomed little lives quietly.
I want to be President because I think I should be.

 - Gary Callahan (President of the USA), TRANSMETROPOLITAN #23



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