MovieChat Forums > Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000) Discussion > Ghost Dog is *SPOILERS*

Ghost Dog is SPOILERS

posted 14 years ago by TheHypnotron
11 replies | jump to latest

In my opinion, the simple truth is... Ghost Dog is crazy. He believes in living by the code of the samurai and carrying out his master's murderous orders. His actions may seem inconsistent (using guns instead of swords) but in his own mind, he's conforming faithfully to his moral code. This is a story about a psychopath and his distorted view of reality. This is what made the movie work for me.

The audience is put into a situation where maybe we question a little the saneness of our own lives where so many of us don't follow any code... at least not as faithfully and fully as Ghost Dog does. Ghost Dog uses the code to justify his evil in his own mind and the audience members perhaps find something admirable about Ghost Dog's commitment to his own ideals and begin to question their own nihilistic feelings of purposelessness and meaninglessness.

[–] jettyrus 14 years ago

I guess he's the same type of "crazy" as Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men. Both live faithfully by their code. Though, I don't see what exactly evil he did in the film.

Caught In The Middle
-----------------------
?TCA?

[–] TheHypnotron 14 years ago

You're right. Evil is subjective and Ghost Dog wouldn't consider himself evil, just as he wouldn't consider himself crazy. That's my own summation based on my own personal moral code. Thus he is crazy and evil but because I understand (or think i do) where he's coming from, there's a small amount of admiration.

NOTE: Ghostdog completed many contracts as mentioned in the film that we did not see.

[–] KidSixXx 14 years ago

More than likely, every major character in the film is a tad wacko.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] anthonyberryprofessional 13 years ago

He's a hitman, thats what he do. His ideas are misplaced in time. A little like marv in sin city.

[–] mjbrown 13 years ago

I'm in agreement here. In the flashback to where he met Louie, we see by his glimpses of the kid's T-shirt and comic books that he's nerdy and way into samurai fantasy. Louie saves his life in a traumatic situation, and Ghost Dog is born, detached from reality from then on, immersed in the fantasy that he is a samurai and this guy is his master. He believes he should have died that day, hence he is now a "ghost", the walking dead, numb and not really a part of the world; I've known people like this in real life. It only works out for him because everyone just regards him as no less eccentric than the other neighborhood denizens, and because Louie and his branch of the mafia are dysfunctional and inept to the point of sheer comedy. Eventually, though, reality catches up with him and things go wrong; he accepts that the end is near.

[–] VicBooth 13 years ago

What his original motivation were for becoming a samurai aren't really that pertinent and would be a postulation at best. It's only important that he is one.

I think you're looking at it backwards though. He doesn't use the samurai code to justify his actions but to guide them. It's not misplaced ideas because they are placed firmly within the boundaries of the samurai code.

I thought the movie was more of a look at strictly following a way of life even in the face of decay and disillusionment rather than a psychopath who takes refuge in a violent ideology.

[–] TheHypnotron 11 years ago

I would agree with you IF and ONLY IF Ghost Dog were killing people in an honorable way. Instead he was killing them as a ninja assassin would.

[–] VicBooth 11 years ago

Feudal Japan is a bit different from modern New Jersey. You can't exactly conduct yourself exactly according to the way a traditional samurai would without getting arrested on day 1.

Somehow I think changing the aspect would create more dissonance than him being an assassin.

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

The late great Roger Ebert had the same take, that Ghost Dog was crazy. I'm not sure that I accept that though. Perhaps he was just totally dedicated to the Way of the Samurai.One man's crazy.....

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, or doesn't.

[–] Errington_92 8 years ago

I interpreted Ghost Dog's samurai code as his way of acclimatising himself towards killing, to mentally prepare himself.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.