To each our own boredom. ("Boredom" is kind of a signature of Jarmusch movies, isn't it?) We disagree over whether Ghost Dog looks like other movies, though. The cinematography, editing, and especially the music all shine. GD doesn't just walk across a rooftop, he timehops in multiple dissolves. In Woo, the guy with the red flag controlling the pigeons is offscreen; here he's the main character. Visual cues: all the gangsters watch vintage cartoons (Felix the Cat, Woody Woodpecker), most of them violent. The "drainpipe murder" is anticipated in the cartoon that precedes it. The scene where the mafiosi "retainer" saves the young Ghost Dog is different each time it's shown, depending on who's remembering it. (And the two book-reading female characters are both reading Rashomon.) At the end, you know the boss's daughter has assumed control because the (unseen) driver won't move the car until she commands him. That's pretty subtle. Audial cues to trope crossover: the Italian gangster who can sing Flavor Flav lyrics word for word (hilarious). Casting RZA as a fellow Samurai: Ghost Dog may be insane, but the film suggests there's an underground of other Ghost Dogs, and that they are known and respected in the community. Eerie.
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- tom moody 12-29-2003 7:47 pm