In a non comedy movie?
Everyone was old and overweight, no young bucks at all in the organization. The head dog liked to watch dated cartoons, no savy or smarts at all. You really did not need to be a samurai to take these guys down.
It all most seemed as if the writer wanted to take down the mafia's ego a couple notches.
Too bad, because if the Mafia was portrayed as a more worthy adversary, Ghost Dogs actions would have held more weight.
That's exactly why I loved Ghost Dog. Its a contrast to those pathetic Godfather films...
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No offense but Ghost Dog was a rather lonely and miserable person who happened to a be a samurai.
He was sort of the a hobo samurai and as a such needed equally lame enemies.
I thought it was a little insulting to modern day samurai's. Those guys fight in wars are military contractors and one can be sure they don't act like Ghost Dog.
The representation of the mafia, and by extension his retainer, is a reflection of the decline of the world and his place -as a samurai- in it.
A lot about how Ghost Dog is represented paints the picture of a Ronin (a samurai with no master) as well as an active samurai.
They often resorted to either petty crime, suicide or abandoning their warrior life to focus on meditation and reflection as monks. They lived a life fraught with purposelessness, guilt and isolation.
In essence he's in a sort of limbo. Stuck between life and death. His lifestyle is archaic and therefore, prone to dysfunction.
This is concisely exemplified in the final line: "The end is important in all things."
No offense but Ghost Dog was a rather lonely and miserable person who happened to a be a samurai.
He was sort of the a hobo samurai and as a such needed equally lame enemies.
I thought it was a little insulting to modern day samurai's. Those guys fight in wars are military contractors and one can be sure they don't act like Ghost Dog.
I think the representation of the Mafia in Ghost Dog would actually be pretty true to how many Mafias are today. The days of prohibition are long gone and I have a feeling many Mafia sects these days are just old guys who think they are the Sopranos.
shareWell, The Sopranos was mostly fat, old guys thinking they were the Godfather. And basically, even the Godfather was about those American fools thinking they were living in a 19th century Sicily. The actual "mafia", these leading figures are days gone by. They have underlings in today's criminal underworld but they are just punks with no real determination or leadership. Old folks still cash in the drug trade and all that stuff but it ain't no centralized criminal conspiracy any more like back in the days, during Prohibition.
shareNot sure I agree with Ghost Dog being a "non comedy" - although, as always the case with Jarmusch, it´s a little difficult to label this thing here or call it any names. At any rate, it´s not exactly "straight" & the mobsters themselves play a lot like a Goodfellas parody or something (very much intentionally, of course).
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Ghost Dog was a good movie. The reason the mafia was depicted as such (IMO) is because they were on the downturn.
The mafia was really just an old boys club, Ghost Dog was the last samurai after Tom Cruise.
I got the impression that the mobsters were supposed to be dumb and incompetent. If you think about it, the whole plot point of them wanting Ghost Dog doesn't even make much sense, as they wanted revenge for his killing somebody they ordered him too. Obviously the girl being there screwed everything up, but even when speaking among themselves they seem to think that it's necessary for them to get payback.
And then there's the part with the landlord bugging them for the rent money. There was also a deleted scene that showed that pretty much all their assets were tied up in the estate.
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Live and learn. At least we lived.
I disagree, I thought the Mafia portrayal was both quite interesting and entertaining. I wouldn't necessarily call it "non-comedy," as details like how they're always watching old cartoons and recite rap lyrics are clearly meant to be amusing. But it's refreshing to see them as regular, struggling, awkward, insecure guys, and I'm sure that's sometimes the case in real life as well.
"I am Jack's wasted life."
I thought that the mafia in Ghost Dog being represented as old and ineffective relics from the past was rather the point (I loved how they were berated by the landlord of their club house for not paying the rent). I also disagree that this was a completely "non comedy" movie.
Om Mani Padme Hum
I thought this portrayed mafia figures pretty accurately.
Some of the most notable Dons, Gambino, Bonnano, Columbo, Luchesse were all feeble old men with very strange personal habits. In the early 80s the two most well known bosses were Chin Gigante and Paul Castellano. The Chin used to wander the streets of little italy in his robe while not bathing for weeks at a time, making himself look senile to try to evade detection from the feds. Castellano lost face with his family ultimately leading to his death by leaving his wife for an overweight hispanic maid and getting a penile implant. Gambino is portrayed as the ultimate mafia don, an incredible thief and cunning killer. He really was a strange looking old man whose mental capacity was greatly affected by being the product of 3 generations of inbreeding.
I think there was a line towards the end where Ghostdog tries to describe to Raymond, that he and Louie where of two "ancient tribes" that are now on the decline. I think that relates to why they are depicted as such...
shareIt seemed to be meant as comedy, as was the whole movie.
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