Last week's SNMC film is Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

[ben freeman]

One of my favorite parts in this movie is when a guy tries to rob the old chinese dude, and the old guy roundhouses the mugger in the head and then keeps walking as if nothing happened.

[coishii]

Also very good by the man..

Missed this earlier - that too is amazing

Certainly is.. especially the soundtrack by Neil Young. Apparently he sat in a room watching the movie for 2 days whilst improvising the soundtrack.

[ajantis_art]

i think its an awesome film, i even managed to persuade my old film studies tutor let us study it for a bit. soundtrack is sick, i just really like the way it tells the story, not through the main character talking all the time but through the hagakure and the other characters. takes a lot of viewings to fully appreciate it tho.

my favourite quote?

(vinny shoots female police officer after she orders him out of the car)
Louie: jesus christ louie, you just shot a broad!
Vinny: i shot a cop! she wanted to be equal, i made her equal.

so harsh.

[paolo]

I reckon he's such a fat bastard cos the Haitian ice cream man keeps giving him free ice cream

[jahtao]

Yo i heard the French ice scream man, when you watch the film dubbed into French, he's dubbed into some nonsense language. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

[contakt]

I watched this again this evening. I forgot what an engaging film it is.

I love its meditative quality - the film moves slowly but surely just like Ghost Dog himself.

It is full of visual references to Kurosawa - the most famous of Japanese film directors. He made the film adaptation of Rashomon - the book Ghost Dog 'borrows' off the girl. Maybe this would be a good film for next week?

It also has little touches that are really reminiscent of Japanese block prints - like the shot of the dead pigeon lying on the black asphalt, its white breast marked with a spot of blood red.

I also love its bizarre humour - the sequence of the gangster rapping along to Flava Flav while getting ready for bed, the mob boss randomly doing an impression of a moose, the boat on the roof, the quote from the hagakure about applying rouge (the book is actually full of bizarre quotes like that - it isn't all 'meditate on death').

If the film is 'about' anything, I suppose I would say it was about codes - the way we all live by codes of one sort or another and use them to make decisions. Without codes, life has no meaning. I suppose Jarmusch drew on two 'ancient ways' in order to explore these themes more effectively.

I really like this film.

[slim]

RZA's cameo in it was a bit odd frankly. Although the soundtrack is brilliant (i love the bit in the car with Armagideon Time playing as he drives through the city)

I like how it manages to be moving and funny at the same time. Worst thing is trying to explain it to people when they ask what it's about.

"It's about a guy from the present day who lives by the samurai code and works as a hitman for the mafia"

Sounds like bulletproof monk + the sopranos or something (not having a go at the sopranos or shonky will probably have me "taken care of" - Fuggedaboudit)

[municiple]

Worth finding the Japanese import soundtrack - big tings.

[tha_illsta]

All about that guy building the ark on the roof.

That is the type o' shit I aspire to...



And yep, if you haven't read them, "Hagakure" AND "Rashomon and other stories" are BOTH good books.

And when you've done that, why not check out the Kurasawa flick entitled "Rashomon and other stories" ...more good stuff



PLUS Just out of interest.. to those people who think Ghost Dog is a waste of celluloid, what films do you rate?

[fused_forces]

big film, aint seen this for ages, defo a wicked soundtrack too.

[stanton]

PLUS Just out of interest.. to those people who think Ghost Dog is a waste of celluloid, what films do you rate?

I really rated In The Mood For Love and most of Kar Wai Wong's films that I've seen, most of Hitchcock's films too. Oh, Big trouble in little China is top notch. I watched the Third Man again t'other day, that's brilliant too.

I like a lot of films for pure entertainment (Predator or Conan for example) and appreciate the way they're made but don't think there's much to them as pieces of art per se. Then there are other films that I do think are great pieces of art, sometimes unintentionally. I know that sounds rather elitist as it is essentially creating a distinction between High and Low art, but it does seem fairly reasonable to me to separate John Milius' films from John Cassavetes, for example. Some films speak their ideas directly and other films speak indirectly and reflect societal viewpoints of certain times which make them interesting (Invasion of the body snatchers for example). The analysis of film as a medium is fascinating, even the blandest of films capture something of their time and society as well as their creator, and looking at a body of film retrospectively is probably as close as we can come to viewing any kind of societal unconscious.

[stanton]

I reckon that if you enjoyed Ghost Dawg then you'll probably like Le Samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville. Ace film.

[ajantis_art]

that was a serious reply stanton mate

[contakt]

I watched the Third Man again t'other day, that's brilliant too.

This is one of my favourite films. It has a light touch despite being very dark in theme. Great soundtrack too.

[stanton]

I watched the Third Man again t'other day, that's brilliant too.

This is one of my favourite films. It has a light touch despite being very dark in theme. Great soundtrack too.

Indeed. It seems to be a kind of transitional film to me. As you say, it has a very light touch and some real elements of comedy (Mr. Crabbin for example) but ultimately deals with a very dark subject and has anything but a happy ending. It seems to reflect an will to return to normalcy in Europe after WWII, but how this may be impossible due to the extreme situations it's population had experienced. The use of an American as the central character is excellent and in some way foresees the turn toward America by Britain during the 50's, it wasn't ruined, it was united politicly and it retained a kind of innocence that perhaps Europe had lost.

[tha_illsta]

PLUS Just out of interest.. to those people who think Ghost Dog is a waste of celluloid, what films do you rate?

I really rated In The Mood For Love and most of Kar Wai Wong's films that I've seen, most of Hitchcock's films too. Oh, Big trouble in little China is top notch. I watched the Third Man again t'other day, that's brilliant too.

I like a lot of films for pure entertainment (Predator or Conan for example) and appreciate the way they're made but don't think there's much to them as pieces of art per se. Then there are other films that I do think are great pieces of art, sometimes unintentionally. I know that sounds rather elitist as it is essentially creating a distinction between High and Low art, but it does seem fairly reasonable to me to separate John Milius' films from John Cassavetes, for example. Some films speak their ideas directly and other films speak indirectly and reflect societal viewpoints of certain times which make them interesting (Invasion of the body snatchers for example). The analysis of film as a medium is fascinating, even the blandest of films capture something of their time and society as well as their creator, and looking at a body of film retrospectively is probably as close as we can come to viewing any kind of societal unconscious.

Hmm... interesting stuff to note here, thanks for your comments.

I too like "The Third Man" and most of the Hitchcock movies, and yep, there are thousands of films I like which I see as "entertainment" or whatever, many of which are horrendously made in many ways. Interesting that you make a note about the societal veiwpoints of films making them interesting.. this is why I am a big fan of the movies of John Hughes and John Landis who I consider to be geniuses in their own fields. Although mainly lighthearted fodder, they are brilliantly made, and reflect the spirit of the time/place e.t.c and as such provide a fascination to me. There is also a second level upon which these type of films can be enjoyed, such as the film making process and other secondary details.

Can't quite see what you see in "Big Trouble in Little China" but what the hell, I'm sure you have a viewpoint on this which I would accept. And yep, I too like some John Milius stuff, the guy is great at what he does.

[tha_illsta]

I reckon that if you enjoyed Ghost Dawg then you'll probably like Le Samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville. Ace film.

Will check that one out, thanks for the recommendation. For the record I usually seem like any film with "samurai" in the title. Not sure why.

[FSTZ]

I reckon that if you enjoyed Ghost Dawg then you'll probably like Le Samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville. Ace film.

Will check that one out, thanks for the recommendation. For the record I usually seem like any film with "samurai" in the title. Not sure why.

the last samurai was shit

[stanton]

Hmm... interesting stuff to note here, thanks for your comments.

I too like "The Third Man" and most of the Hitchcock movies, and yep, there are thousands of films I like which I see as "entertainment" or whatever, many of which are horrendously made in many ways. Interesting that you make a note about the societal veiwpoints of films making them interesting.. this is why I am a big fan of the movies of John Hughes and John Landis who I consider to be geniuses in their own fields. Although mainly lighthearted fodder, they are brilliantly made, and reflect the spirit of the time/place e.t.c and as such provide a fascination to me. There is also a second level upon which these type of films can be enjoyed, such as the film making process and other secondary details.

Can't quite see what you see in "Big Trouble in Little China" but what the hell, I'm sure you have a viewpoint on this which I would accept. And yep, I too like some John Milius stuff, the guy is great at what he does.

Big Trouble In Little China just makes me laugh and I loved it as a kid, light hearted fodder and all that. I agree with you about Landis & Hughes, great films.

[stanton]

the last samurai was shit

It wasn't great was it, but it looked like the DOP had tons of fun.