"A man's gotta have a code" - Omar Little

@Melsharpe95

10 күн бұрын

Anton Chigurh is basically Ghost Dog but from a different angle.

@wraith8323

9 күн бұрын

"This caliber, at this range? Even if i miss i cant miss"

@YourConscience.o_o

9 күн бұрын

I just noticed for the first time that Jamie Hector "Marlo" is in this film haha.

@chancedashell7379

8 күн бұрын

Living by a code makes the Man.

@michaelanatole9672

7 күн бұрын

And this is why I love both characters. And it is evident in the Magnificent 7 or the Seven Samurai. Most will miss this essence... but you get it.

You have it backwards. Ghost Dog is the retainer. Louis is his "lord". Samurai means servant. So does retainer. Bushi is warrior. "Do" is "the way of". Bushido is the way of the warrior. The way of the samurai is to serve with absolute loyalty. Hope this helps.

@RogerKomula-kl9lb

7 күн бұрын

How is that working out for the samurai? Bet they're all rich with hot chicks.

@recoil53

5 күн бұрын

@@RogerKomula-kl9lb Actually the large Japanese corporations were founded by descendants of old samurai families, so some did pretty well. Also a true samurai is not concerned about material gain, so they say.

This is one of my all-time favorite movies. I was fortunate enough to see it in the theater when it came out. It really is an underrated masterpiece.

@johnmcdonagh9336

10 күн бұрын

Nice. Good soundtrack and sound design. Would have been cool on the big screen. I wasn't so fortunate. But I saw it on VHS the first time. With some good friends who are still good friends with excellent taste in movies and music.

@JJKP

9 күн бұрын

ditto

@lowesdeals

9 күн бұрын

I agree it's an amazing movie

@SBhunting

9 күн бұрын

I definitely need to watch it this weekend

@DEALGUY

9 күн бұрын

YASSSSS

This film had no business being as good as it was. It’s like a patchwork quilt of styles, themes, inspirations, humour. More films like this please.

@XXXX-yc6wv

9 күн бұрын

Is it good though? I really still can't tell. I like it, but I also can't stand it in some ways.

This movie is both a critique of and homage to tradition. It's almost like a love letter to a parent that is stuck in the archaic ways of thinking. A letter filled with respect, sadness, admiration and understanding that they're not long for this world.

@baloneysaucejohnson8747

7 күн бұрын

Well said. Buried my grandfather last year,he raised me and gave me a code to live by. By all rights he represented tradition and order in my life, I miss him dearly and now am the order and tradition in my family. Rest in peace all warriors We will meet again

I once tried to watch this movie with a friend but he made us turn it off as soon as he found out "ghost dog" was a man's name and it wasn't a movie about a dog that's dead

@Babylonian_Escapee

11 күн бұрын

lol life of the party

@Hasshodo

11 күн бұрын

not how I was expecting your story to go - i once tried to show this movie to someone but they couldn't take it seriously because "lol look at this fat weeb" - oh well, some art isn't for all

@Trisket

10 күн бұрын

​@@Hasshodowhy are you hanging around insecure morons?

@duncanmacleod8855

10 күн бұрын

reminds me of someone in Jersey; "ya know who also had an arc? Noah!" some (most) people aren't deep thinkers...

@melissacoats6855

9 күн бұрын

maybe you should try ghost dad, might make him more happy.

Thank you for honoring this fine film. It is truly a hidden gem. Jim Jarmusch made two films in the 90s that impacted me deeply. Ghost Dog and Dead Man.

@KanyeWestwasRight

12 күн бұрын

2 great films

@mbryson2899

11 күн бұрын

That pair has always stuck with me, as has _Only Lovers Left Alive._

@michaelmoraga2926

11 күн бұрын

@@mbryson2899 👍💜

@VadymMykhailovskyi

11 күн бұрын

Broken Flowers is my favorite.

@KanyeWestwasRight

11 күн бұрын

Only lovers and broken flowers are both amazing also Jim jarmuche really knows how to cook

The reason the mob kills Ghost Dog is because the boss' daughter was there, when she wasn't supposed to be, even thought that wasn't Ghost Dog's fault. It wasn't the murder that was the disrespect that demanded murder as vengeance, it was the boss' daughter being present.

@michaelmoraga2926

11 күн бұрын

💯👍

@mathewblaine1109

11 күн бұрын

I agree but believe it was both reasons it’s why they hired out of the family , because they knew they were going to kill him after

@manticorephoenix

10 күн бұрын

@@mathewblaine1109yes, the daughter being there was a perfect excuse to put the inevitable hit on the Hitman, the only hitch in the plan for them personally was they didn’t inform Louie that he should hire a random shooter and not a member of his crew to do it, if they had Louie and Ghost Dog wouldn’t be on the chopping block, and the Jersey Mob wouldn’t have been hunted down as a result

@carboodle610

10 күн бұрын

thanks for the spoiler dawg

@buckaroobanzai7063

10 күн бұрын

The Mob didn't kill Ghostdog. He killed them. Then the daughter had him killed.

If you're trying to find films that deal with the absurd, just look at most stuff Takashi Miike did. He's the master of absurdity.

@_Alfa_Channel

10 күн бұрын

Blade of the Immortal is an absolute masterpiece

@Jaysonezralewis

10 күн бұрын

Agreed and also try the 2003 version of zatoichi.

@joaocorreiamedia

10 күн бұрын

@@_Alfa_Channel I feel like BOTI is an ok Miike film, but quite far from most of his other stuff.

@_Alfa_Channel

10 күн бұрын

@@joaocorreiamedia agreed - DOA and Audition are better than Ichi and 13 Assassins is the goat but I read Mugen No Junin and that was the closest anyone has ever come to a movie from a book...

@joaocorreiamedia

10 күн бұрын

@@_Alfa_Channel I understand perfectly! Despite a film being better or worse than something else, what matters is our personal taste :)

About absurdity of the mob.. i cant quote the exact words, but there was a moment when they laughed at how black gangsters had these stupid name tags like a bunch of animals and then immidiately proceed to call his fellow mobsters with similar stupid nicknames.

@romanjeve

11 күн бұрын

It was Indians' names the mob boss was referring to

@KristovMars

11 күн бұрын

Truly memorable scene!

@RyanNagy

6 күн бұрын

One of those moments when I laughed out loud in the theater and no one else did. Sometimes the humour and commentary was too subtle for some folks.

@user-vv2jt7ng3m

Күн бұрын

@@romanjeve "Indians, N-s... same thing..." :D :D

I discovered this film via the soundtrack at the start of my Wu Tang obsession a decade ago. Through the Rza connection I was so excited to see it. It totally blew my mind with the masterful pacing and subtext. The respect and deep understanding of both film history and Japanese bushido code made it such a fascinating film. It's great to see it getting the recognition it deserves.

@ZenDoggie

9 күн бұрын

The soundtrack to this movie is another character, I swear. Amazing.

@reunionproductions

8 күн бұрын

I'll be honest, it's worth pointing out that Hagakure is kind of a charicature of the "bushido code", in that the Sengoku era in which the retainer/lord dynamics depicted within had ended over 100 years before the writing of this book. The author himself had no military experience whatsoever, and the samurai class itself had devolved into an administrative role with ceremonial military vestiges. I love Hagakure deeply because it's still a fascinating read with much to take away from it, but it is kind of a nostalgic larp on a dead warrior culture by a man who never held a sword. As such there are a lot of questions to be raised as an accurate historical document on bushido

@Josh_Quillan

7 күн бұрын

I became aware of the RZA from watching this; then I discovered that one of my favourite singers and actresses from Japan, Meiko Kaji, was involved in a ruinous legal fight with the RZA. He stole a piano riff from one of her songs, she sued, he counter-sued for defamation and threw more money than she was able to into the suit. He preferred to pay a lawyer than pay a musician he'd admired enough to use their work, and it seriously harmed her music career for about 20 years. I like the music from Ghost Dog but I have no respect for him as a person any more.

@ScottyBanton

7 күн бұрын

@@Josh_Quillanwell, the countersue by RZA proved that the original copyright claim was completely inaccurate and the the sample used in Dark Fantasy was not the Kaji rift at all. All you have to do is listen to the Kaji piano rift and the RZA rift and they are 2 completely different sounds. It’s sad really, all that respect you claimed to have lost, for nothing.

@Josh_Quillan

7 күн бұрын

@@ScottyBanton The recording I heard, they were identical. Either way, the fact remains he liked another performer's work enough to either steal or imitate it, but wasn't interested in paying for it or settling the dispute amicably, and preferred to ruin her. That's shitty behaviour.

Poeticness? The word you want is poetry.

@jeffbrinkerhoff5121

16 сағат бұрын

Poetrical..poetricious..

A retainer is a follower, not a master. Ghost Dog was Louie's retainer, not the other way around.

@michaelmoraga2926

11 күн бұрын

Yes. Ghost Dog says to Louie "I'm your retainer. I don't mean you no disrespect".

@valmarsiglia

10 күн бұрын

@@AFMR0420 In the context of feudalism, a retainer is "a dependent or follower of someone of rank" or "a paid servant, especially one who has been employed for many years." It has had this meaning for literally centuries.

@draco_1876

10 күн бұрын

A retainer was a samurai. Lmao you guys are so historically illiterate

@valmarsiglia

10 күн бұрын

@@draco_1876 The word retainer has been in use for centuries to mean the servant of a lord, of course its meaning isn't specifically Japanese. Speaking of historically illiterate.

@mateohodge6998

10 күн бұрын

​@@valmarsigliabut to be clear in relation to samurai retainers were considered samurai

Rented this movie when I was like 14 or 15 and it was still new-ish. Knew there was something unique about it, but still kind of surprised to see people talking about it these days.

I saw this film when it came out just before I went into the military and it spoke to me. I always loved it. Glad to know others out there saw the same virtues in the film that I did.

went to see this movie by myself back when it came to the cinemas... was my first Jim Jarmusch movie... It left a great impression on me. Still is one of my favourite movies ever. Great soundtrack as well

I also love how he comes in with two guns, "It's the bird man!" guy dies of a heart attack, and Ghost Dog slowly lowers that gun. No longer needed. Heh.

SO HAPPY YOU GIVING THIS MOVIE THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES

This was an incredible film that originally I loved for the hip hop score and the parallels between samurai and gang culture. You brought a really unique perspective to this film and gave me a new way to appreciate it.

This is the Video that's gonna blow your channel up. Perfect mix of intellectual introspection and a grounded human appreciation for a "dope flick" Kudos!

And the WuTang soundtrack !

Great video man. I saw this as a 12 year old when it came out and didn’t get it at all. Haven’t thought about it in years but defiantly going to watch again. Hopefully a bit more maturity will help me appreciate it on a new level

This was an amazing critique, for a great movie. Thank you.

Ok but can we talk about how perfect The RZA's score is for thr mood and atmosphere of this film?

Superb analysis/commentary.

Thank you for this awesome review. Ghost Dog has lived in my Top Five Films list since the first time I watched it. Good call!

Me and him we are from different ancient tribes, now we are both almost extinct. Sometimes... you gotta stick with the ancient ways. The old-school ways. I know you understand me.

Great video. Looking forward to more

Excellent take on this underrated gem. If you look beneath the surface its many disparate layers interwoven adroitly, like when a tie and shirt that shouldnt match are brought together with the right blazer and shoes. Its accessible but at the same time not neccessarily mass market either, it deserved much more acclaim

5:10 I was fully zoned in to the video until this scene. I had to take a laugh break 🤣 awesome video man! I'm gonna check this movie out

YES A VIDEO ESSAY ON ONE OF MY FAVOURITE FILMS

Fantastic video! Cheers

I watched ghost dog when I was in three year Buddhist retreat in 1999. During the Tibetan new year we were allowed to watch few movies. One day. What’s you are talking about gives me a good feed back of this time. Purpose gives a framework in a meaningless live, due to that for one moment nothing becomes something. Thank you. Sorry for my French English.

I like your perspective on this movie. One of my favorites back in the day. I probably haven't seen it in 18 years, will be re-watching soon

Thank you for video. "Limits of control" is very impressive as well.

I should hate this movie, but I love it. I hate pretentious, arrogance and self importance of "artsy" creators who are immune to scrutiny because "If you don't like it its because you don't get it" Ghost Dog is subversion of that. Everyone in this world is silly in its way, but they don't pretend to be otherwise. They just choose to live their life and live them in the way they chosen. Nothing more, nothing less.

I liked how he wielded the guns like samurai swords🔥

Great evaluation of this film 👍 I also like how the hip hop music tells the story of Ghost Dogs life, every time he’s listening to music you get insight on where he comes from, who he was in another life, and who he is in the present and what he looks forward to in the afterlife.

One of my favorite movies. Very thoughtful and funny at the same time. Great that you catched the difference in memory that Ghost Dog and the Mafia guy has, a lot of people miss that, since it is not actively pointed out, but changes the whole perspective of the movie. Also the funniest scene is when the Mafia bosses hear for the first time the name Ghost Dog and come up with the Rapper and Indian references, that's the first time you realize that they are some total wacky dudes :D.

Great review. Underrated for the time.

This was a great analysis !

Absolute classic, this was such an important piece of cinema for me and still shines as a masterpiece

My respect to you for sharing this if for no other reason than the Hagakure highlight, thank you. I haven’t seen this film in 20 years, definitely worth a revisit.

That was beautiful. I appreciate it.

I watch this movie a lot, I rented it from a local video store 20 years ago and I have been a fan since.

I must have seen this wonderfully unique film 5 times over the last 20-30 years ..just fantastic :)

“The Hagakure” is a must read if you love this movie all the quotes come from it

I saw this four times in the theater. Great film. That bear hunter scene was beautiful. Thanks for the commentary.

Great video, great channel!! 👏

Good work, good man

I was working at a cinema when this came out. Almost always when a movie finished, most people would start getting up to leave as soon as the credit roll started. I noticed than when Ghost Dog finished, most people just sat there and chilled for a moment. I feel like there's something slightly hypnotic about this movie, the rhythm of it leaves you kinda calm afterwards.

This is a great discussion/analysis of Ghost Dog, one of my favorite films of all time. I agree with all of your points, and it's not surprising that the subleties of the film get lost in the mindsets that have to have their goodies right up front for immediate gratification. When this film came out I was noticing that tendency more and more; it had always been there in some form, but for some reason it started to impact upon me more. With the Hollyweird films of late, with few exceptions like Joker, for instance its gone full-bore I'm-brain-dead-feed-me-now-or-else. More sad than anything, I believe.

Such a good breakdown, bro

I love this! Thanks!

Great review. Once of my favorite movies. When Ghost Dog came out it got no publicity at all. A buddy of mine and I were in Blockbuster looking for something to watch and he saw Forest on the cover with a Sword and we decided to check it out. It became a topic of discussion and earned a lot of rewatches over the next several years. Not everybody gets it I've found, or even enjoys it all that much. It is a weird movie but in the right ways I think. It is worth mentioning that another element that brings this movie together is The RZA's tracks playing under a lot of the transition scenes and during scenes where there isn't a lot of dialogue, for me it adds a kind of dream like or fairy tale like feeling to the whole movie.

Outstanding observations. One of Jarmusch's very best, and an excellent lead performance by Forest Whitaker. Living life by a code as illustrated by this film, shows us the many facets of humanity following and adhering to code. I also found there is code reading, code breaking, and even writing new code to follow for the many characters in this movie.

@listrahtes

2 күн бұрын

Interesting take ,for me it's Jarmuschs weakest movie by far. I loved it as a teenager but now as an adult it's imo a quite pretentious cheap power fantasy spiced with soap opera Japanese bushido quotes in lifestyle and behaviour. I guess Jarmuschs wanted to break into a unique portrayal by using pudgy Whitaker but he plays it one dimensional like a overweight gaming nerd. It's just only surface and a caricature of a movie .

Calling Le Samourai “fast loud and flashy” is blatantly wrong

@misteral1083

10 күн бұрын

That's what I thought

Earned a sub, good job 🎉

Found this film one night about 20 years ago browsing and was blown away.

I watched this when I was way to young to understand the concept. I just thought it was a cool movie at the time. When I watched it again as an adult I really fell in love with it. It is weird that when Forest Whittaker is mentioned they name every single huge movie he is in and every great performance, but you rarely hear this movie mentioned.

Great Review!

I loved this when it came out; the soundtrack is brilliant as well

Forest Whittaker's exquisite acting always leaves a mark.(Color of Money, Crying Game, Ghost Dog).

Jarmusch is great. This is one of his best.

Interesting analysis. One question raised: Does discipline, following a code, make one moral. The presenter answers "No". I agree. However, it DOES suggest integrity: alignment between word and deed.

I was a teenager when this came out and had to hunt down an arthouse theater to even see it. It stuck with me, though. Great film 👍🏽

A great movie and really great sound track

This movie just popped into my head yesterday. Nice.

One of my best chance finds on dvd at the local blockbuster back in the day... even at 15 I loved the slow burn and charm of this film.

I was obsessed with this movie when I was an edgy teenager. I really owe it a rewatch because I imagine it will hit a lot differently. I'm not sure if Jim Jarmusch even intended it this way but one thing kind of leaning into your analysis of the movie that parallels the seemingly hilarious decline of the gangsters is that the Hagakure is, itself, kind of an absurdity. Its a treatise on how one should live life as a samurai warrior...but it is a matter of historical record that its author Yamamoto Tsunetomo never actually fought in combat or any duels that we know of. All of his writing and direction on being a samurai is from a deeply reactionary and nostalgic viewpoint because he was part of a warrior class that was on the decline.

I always saw this movie on the video store shelf and thought the title was cheesy so I never rented it; three minutes into your review Im pausing and watching it VDO. Thanks for bringing my attention to great films Ive overlooked in the past.

Good video! Liked and Subscribed for more. I remember that I wanted to watch this one!

OK, pretty good breakdown here. Didn't catch the reasoning behind the comical absurdity of the hip-hop loving mafioso when I watched this movie so many years ago, but you explain very well here (commenting here because I love this movie so)!

I love this film so much, it had a big influence on me growing up. Having short passages from the Hagakure dotted throughout the film really ties it together

brb gonna watch it then come back to this video

What's interesting in light of this video's themes, is the Hagakure was written after two hundred years of peace. There was no need for samurai as warriors. They had become solely administrators. Hagakure was written by someone trying to hearken back to what what he thought the code of a samurai should be, based on a dream of a past that never was.

I literally sought the movie out because i thought the title was hilarious and figured i may have a laugh. I think i watched it twice, back to back that first night. So good i was taken aback.

nice video bro subbed

I appreciate this film more now than when it came out.

Ghost Dog and Dead Man were good intros to more artistic cinema for teens and early 20s kids in the 90s. That's the way it worked for me. They were sufficiently accessible and not overly emotionally demanding for audiences who aren't used to it. Suddenly thinking of Fireworks / Hana-Bi (1997). There's some sort of late 90s association with Ghost Dog lodged in my brain.

I loved this movie when I was a teen manly because of the wu Tang clan connection, download it the other day and forgot about it till I watched your video.thanks for remembering me to re-watch it

One of my favorite films. Thanks for giving a perspective that's distinctive and true to the film itself.

@sophiabynico

14 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! The film was very fun to appreciate

The character actors who play the mobsters are epic.

well done...it was enjoyable; i love this film, and you gave it the respect it deserves... gratitude!

Absolutely love this film. I heard there was a part 2 in the works ? But not any more?

Love this movie review, very nostalgic since i saw this movie when i was a child.

This movie has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a movie. Wu Tang's Fast Shadow goes off!

This film has always seemed to fly under the radar - I know so few people who’ve seen it. It’s great! It has so much going for it. It has some fantastic humour in it, just to mention thing. I remember reading Hagakure and despite being totally into Japanese martial arts and traditional culture, finding it really hard to connect with and frankly just a bit odd much of the time. But this movie actually made it really accessible. Really liked your take on it too - thanks.

This and Dead Man also jim jarmusch are two of my faviorites files of all time.

It is an amazing and extremely under-rated film ... and every time I return to it, I see something, learn something else

nice analysis.

Not commenting on the movie itself, but my only memory of this movie was seeing the trailer in the a theater and the audience chuckling.

I'm glad I got to be the 666th 'like'. I've watched Ghost Dog many, many times since it was released. I never noticed the difference between Ghost Dog's and Louie's interpretation of their first meeting. Your drawing of parallels between seemingly absurd but meaningful codes and the building of a boat on a roof is intriguing.

Great take on this movie nico btw

I remember watching this back in the day when I was little got so excited when i saw the rza

I thought I was the only one who remembered this movie

One of my favorite all time movies

The ice-cream guy played by Isaach de Bankolé...as the Lone man .. later in Limits of control, they aren't connected but both movies are so immersive

@elbowspeak

9 күн бұрын

I first saw him in another wonderful movie by Claire Denis called Chocolat. Deeply compelling role and movie.

Wow! I haven't thought of this movie in forever. Always saw the previews of this movie back in the 90s. Always meant to rent it. Just always slipped through the cracks.

wow blast from the past remember watching as a kid with my dad