Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
1999 film by Jim Jarmusch
- Released
- 1999
- Country
- United States, Germany, France
- Language
- English, French
- Genre
- Martial arts film
- Director
- Jim Jarmusch
- Screenplay
- Jim Jarmusch
- Producer
- Jim Jarmusch, Richard Guay
- Music
- RZA
- Cinematography
- Robby Müller
- Editing
- Jay Rabinowitz
- Starring
- Forest Whitaker, Henry Silva, Victor Argo, Joseph Rigano, Vinny Vella, John Tormey, Tricia Vessey, Cliff Gorman
- Running time
- 116 minutes
- Distributor
- Artisan Entertainment, Netflix
- Box office
- $9.4 million
- Budget
- $2 million
- Set in
- New York City
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 crime drama film produced, written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Forest Whitaker as the title character, a hitman for the mafia who adheres to the ancient warrior code of the samurai, as outlined in the book of Yamamoto Tsunetomo's recorded sayings, Hagakure. The cast also features Cliff Gorman, Henry Silva, Isaach de Bankolé, Victor Argo and Camille Winbush. The film also features RZA in his film debut.
An international co-production between the United States, France, Germany and Japan, Ghost Dog premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. The film opened to largely positive critical reception, and was nominated for both an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and a César Award for Best Foreign Film.
Cast
- Forest Whitaker
- Henry Silva
- Victor Argo
- Joseph Rigano
- Vinny Vella
- John Tormey
- Tricia Vessey
- Cliff Gorman
- Camille Winbush
- Frank Adonis
- Gary Farmer
- Richard Portnow
- RZA
- Frank Minucci
- Damon Whitaker
- Gano Grills
- Jamie Hector
- Shi Yan Ming
- Timbo King
- Harry Shearer
- Vanessa Hollingshead
- Sharon Angela
- Scott Bryce
- Vince Viverito
- Angel Caban
- José Rabelo
- Jonathan Teague Cook
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q327332 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.