VISUAL HOMAGES IN GHOST DOG (GHOST DOG AT 25)

Frankenstein / Ghost Dog

Ghost Dog is now 25 years old! Instead of writing some retrospective think-piece about how it’s a great film dealing with race relations between Black Americans & Italian Americans or how it’s a misunderstood meditative masterpiece, or how it’s one of Forest Whitaker’s greatest performances – I’ve decided to compile my personal favorite homages from the film. 

Outside of the obvious sources of inspiration like Le Samourai & Branded To Kill, Ghost Dog is full of references which is sort of Jim Jarmusch’s motto. Below are the visual similarities that stood out to me the most over the years…

Meditation On Violence / Ghost Dog

GHOST DOG is obviously heavily informed by LE SAMOURAI- Jim Jarmusch, louderthanwar.com

Le Samourai / Ghost Dog

Le Samourai / Ghost Dog

but there were other things as well: films by Suzuki - Jim Jarmusch, Filmmaker Magazine

Branded To Kill / Ghost Dog

Take Aim At The Police Van / Ghost Dog

Branded To Kill / Ghost Dog

Branded To Kill /
Ghost Dog

Branded To Kill /
Ghost Dog

Branded To Kill / Ghost Dog

Tokyo Drifter /
Ghost Dog

Tokyo Drifter /
Ghost Dog

Tokyo Drifter /
Ghost Dog

Tokyo Drifter /
Ghost Dog

I gave him [Forest Whitaker] Seven Samurai, Branded to Kill, by Suzuki Le Samurai and Le Deuxième Souffle by Melville - Jim Jarmusch,  Movie Maker Magazine

Le Deuxmieme Souffle / Ghost Dog

Le Deuxmieme Souffle / Ghost Dog

I did give Forest a lot of Kurosawa and other films to watch when he asked me ‘What inspired you’ - Jim Jarmusch, Movie Maker Magazine

Rashomon /
Ghost Dog

Seven Samurai / Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Sanjuro /
Ghost Dog

Rashomon /
Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Ghost Dog uses guns in his work, but he treats them the way a samurai would have treated a sword - Jim Jarmusch, Filmmaker Magazine

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Yojimbo /
Ghost Dog

Zatoichi /
Ghost Dog

Zatoichi /
Ghost Dog

Films made by Ozu (or the works of any masters, for that matter) may drift in and out of fashion, but their stylistic strengths and particularities are not movable - Jim Jarmusch, Artforum.com

Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family / Ghost Dog

Early Summer / Ghost Dog

Early Summer / Ghost Dog

Early Summer / Ghost Dog

Early Summer / Ghost Dog

Equinox Flower / Ghost Dog

Good Morning / Ghost Dog

Days Of Youth / Ghost Dog

Equinox Flower / Ghost Dog

Dragnet Girl / Ghost Dog

In the trunk he [Henry Silva] had tapes of his work that he’d made. It wasn’t his classic films like The Manchurian Candidate or Viva Zapata. It was all stuff of him with Steven Segal & Chuck Norris - Jim Jarmusch, louderthanwar.com

Code Of Silence /
Ghost Dog

Code Of Silence /
Ghost Dog

In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination - Jim Jarmusch

Breathless /
Ghost Dog

At that time, I was also inspired by very formally pure films. Films by Carl Dreyer or Bresson - Jim Jarmusch, The Guardian

Pickpocket / Ghost Dog

Pickpocket / Ghost Dog

Pickpocket / Ghost Dog

FALLEN LEAVES

It’s almost as if Fallen Leaves was tailor-made for the type of Kaurismaki fan that’s been patiently waiting for him to leave behind the overtly political messages in his films and return to more personal, smaller-scale storytelling. I'm talking about anything after Lights In The Dusk. There’s nothing wrong with being a political filmmaker but I find it interesting that once Kaurismaki’s work became overtly political, they became less interesting. I say overtly because just about any Kaurismaki film is going to have some layer of social and/or political commentary (most of his characters are lower income or homeless with low-paying thankless jobs in some type of oppressed position). I just personally feel he works best when the social issues and politics serve as the backdrop instead of being the main story. In the case of Fallen Leaves, class, poverty and & abuse of power certainly play a role in the film. But at the end of the day this is a love story first. 

I like for artists to stay in the lane they’ve mastered rather than try something new and fail. That’s just me. Now…I don’t want anyone to make the same exact thing over and over but I do like when filmmakers do slightly different versions of the same and/or similar things they're great at. Again - that’s just me. And to be clear - Aki Kaurismaki will always be a voice for the voiceless. 

Fallen Leaves is a love story about a lonely working class woman and a homeless alcoholic. It feels like an updated version of both Shadows In Paradise and Match Factory Girl but with newer actors. His standard formula is there: a deadpan dramedy where boy meets girl, boy and girl hit it off, a conflict/tragic event happens and things eventually get sort of resolved. Aki Kaurismaki’s films aren’t for everyone but I could see this is a good entry-point for folks unfamiliar with his work (definitely check out Shadows In Paradise and Match Factory Girl if you enjoy Fallen Leaves).

It should be noted that this is one of Kaurismaki’s best looking films. The colors reminded me of a late period Ozu film which makes perfect sense considering how much of an Ozu fan he is…

If I go to lonely island with only one film it would still be Tokyo Story - Aki Kaurismaki, Film Quarterly

Tokyo Story / Fallen Leaves

There’s a lot of banal Ozu-esque imagery all throughout the film (factories, kitchens, teapots in the background, etc). This is quietly one of Kaurismaki's greatest homages to his Japanese idol...

I refuse to go to my grave until I have proved to myself that I’ll never reach your level, Mr. Ozu - Aki Kaurismaki, Talking With Ozu

Late Autumn / Fallen Leaves

The Only Son / Fallen Leaves

Fallen Leaves also has a lot of easter egg references to everyone from Bresson & Visconti to his good friend Jim Jarmusch (besides a scene where the two lead characters go and watch The Dead Don't Die, the minimal dialogue between the two love interests is reminiscent of the sparse dialogue in Jarmusch's Ghost Dog)...

 

Bresson

Visconti

Jarmusch

Film Quarterly: Which directors reign supreme in your pantheon of influences? 

Aki Kaurismaki: Robert Bresson

some Bresson-ian moments in Fallen Leaves...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Fallen Leaves

L'Argent / Fallen Leaves

L'Argent / Fallen Leaves

Une Femme Douce / Fallen Leaves

Now that we’ve got the old Kaurismaki back, I’d like for him to stay put and stay in his lane for as long as possible. I know that sounds incredibly stifling and selfish, but I’m an only child and sometimes we can get a little self-serving.