related chanbure-eiga

[martin mudd]

    Jim Jarmusch's method is to blend genres in a bizarre concoction that
usually pleases only certain types of film buffs.  his "Dead Man" was a
bizarre take on the American western genre, and the interesting, violent,
yet greatly entertaining "Ghost Dog" was a marriage of the Kurasawa-style
samurai film,  the Mafia flicks of Scorsese and Coppola, and modern black
urban culture.  the fascinating thing about Ghost Dog (the character) was
that in the faltering Mafia code of "honor" he saw a parallel to the samurai
code, about which he had read in books.  of course the mafia way of life as
depicted in the movie is much less romantic than the elegance of "the
Godfather"; these fat, old mafiosos can't even afford to pay the rent in the
chinese restaurant where they lounge in gaudy suits and leisure clothing and
decide on whom they should whack next.

    the thing i enjoyed most about Ghost Dog was how Jarmusch created a
surreal hyper-urban world comprising various concrete and transient
locations: the park (with the charming and funny little girl Pearline, and
the french-speaking ice cream dealer), the "streets", ghost dog's home...
some of the more beautiful parts are when the hermit Ghost Dog is training
his pigeons, and when, on the way to a hit, he drives through the urban
streets listening to ambient hip-hop produced by Wu-Tang's RZA, it seems
very dreamlike.

    the best thing about Forest Whitaker's ghost dog character is that his
violent statement of personal honor in the end is not corny, but that of an
intelligent, independent person who has dedicated his life to a way of life
that has completely vanished, leaving only books and stylized, exaggerated
action flicks.

it was a gutsy move to try to release this on a major scale in America, but
that is Jim Jarmusch's personality - eccentric and occasionally ingenious. i
don't really know how much money the movie took, but Jarmusch is
traditionally indie cinema.  i hope he remains so, his films are best (if
only intended for Jarmusch fans) when he does just what he wants to do.

cheers
-- 
martin mudd 
williams college
1371 baxter hall 
williamstown, MA 01267
413-597-6312
04mdm at williams.edu

there is something to be learned from a rainstorm.  when meeting with a
sudden shower, you try not to get wet, and run quickly along the road.  by
doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet.
when you are resolved from the beginning you will not be perplexed, yet you
will still get the same soaking. this understanding extends to all.
      HAGAKURE



> From: David Duncan <neku78 at hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 11:24:22 -0600
> To: kinejapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
> Subject: related chanbure-eiga
> 
> Intellecuals,
> As a topic of discussion I'd like to ask if anyone has checked out Jim
> Jarmush's Ghost Dog.  As you may know my hunger for Japanese film is
> pinpointed on Samurai or Chanbura-Eiga films.  I'm fully aware that this
> film is American made.  I personally make no true distiction about where a
> film is released, rather I tend to connect genre's as a whole.  If you've
> seen Ghost, you know what a strange mix of characters this movie contains.
> Forest Whittaker(sp?) plays a great but typical lone-wolf type asassin.  His
> character is definately Samurai, no question.  Yet to offset this, Jarmush
> also presents some very strange mobster-types for comic relief.  I found the
> choice of characters to be a very ballsy move.  Most American Samurai movies
> tend to be extremely generic, for instance check out American Samurai (good,
> but typical).  That's probrobly why I liked this movie so much, it's a great
> break from the regualar trend.  Did anyone else who had a chance to view
> this think along the same lines?  More importantly, is it possible to
> present an original Samurai movie to the American audience?  I know Japan
> has been successful in combining comedy and katana-slashing action, but are
> American audiences ready for this type of genre blending?
> _________________________________________________________________
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