Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai

1999, Jim Jarmusch, USA

In July 2024, we lost one of the country’s greatest advocates for the film society movement with the passing of Ross Stevenson, President of the New Zealand Federation of Film Societies. At Ross’ funeral, one of his close friends gave a eulogy mentioning Ross’ long-standing love of film and joked about a ‘weird’ movie that Ross took him to in the early-2000s. 

In memory of Ross and his impeccable taste, we’re screening that film: Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai.

Forest Whitaker stars as a mob hitman and adherent to code of the samurai. Those who are familiar with Jarmusch’s offbeat but impossibly cool approaches to genre (we played his vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive in 2020), will know not to expect something that hews too closely to conventions. This tonally disparate film is less Akira Kurosawa (don’t worry, you’ll get your fix this year) and more Jean-Pierre Melville whose Le Samouraï served as a major inspiration. We might have lost Melville’s star Alain Delon in 2024, but Whitaker is still with us and it’s always worth reminding ourselves of his singular screen presence with one of his most-acclaimed films.

“Mixing hip-hop flair with the samurai ethos, arthouse cool with wild action sequences, and Forest Whitaker with a bunch of birds, Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai couldn’t be a stranger, more perfect combination of elements if it tried.”—Kambole Campbell, One Room With a View