Part of 1999 and Music City Mondays

Jim Jarmusch combined his love for the ice-cool crime dramas of Jean-Pierre Melville and Seijun Suzuki with the philosophical dimensions of samurai mythology for an eccentrically postmodern take on the hit-man thriller. In one of his defining roles, Forest Whitaker brings a commanding serenity to his portrayal of a Zen contract killer working for a bumbling mob outfit, a modern man who adheres steadfastly to the ideals of the Japanese warrior code even as chaos and violence spiral around him. Featuring moody cinematography by the great Robby Müller, a sublime score by the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, and a host of colorful character actors (including a memorably stone-faced Henry Silva), GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI plays like a pop-culture-sampling cinematic mixtape built around a one-of-a-kind tragic hero.

“By turns amusing and melancholic, sweet-centred and dark-edged.” —Xan Brooks, Sight and Sound

“It's a small, offbeat, extremely well-crafted little film that's full of terrific touches. It's also the funniest mob comedy in years.” —Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

“Within [his] off-kilter sensibility, there has always been a Zenlike simplicity and elegance, and that aspect of Jarmusch's work reaches full fruition in GHOST DOG.” —Serena Donadoni, Metro Times Detroit