Flutterby™! : ghost dog

Saw Ghost Dog last night. Strangely unsatisfying, as an example of the craft I thought it was stellar, it's been a long time since I've seen actors up to the task of 30 second face shots without dialog, or a director willing to push them to that, and the layers of characterization were very refreshing. However, I don't know if I'm just a wuss about meaning, but I wish the violence had been less comic-bookish, I think it would have been a much more powerful movie had it been realistic and used sparingly, and although it made me think a bit more about tradition and tragedy I wish the screenplay had made a slightly stronger statement to argue with. I may have also been hindered in my understanding by not knowing much of the Samurai mythology.