Slavery, at least when practised in its traditional form, is widely perceived to be something belonging to past centuries. Experiences from countries like Lybia, where post-Khadaffi chaos returned open air slave markets, tell quite a different story. Phenomenon of modern-day slavery nevertheless caught the attention of small number of dedicated activists, as well as Spanish writer Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa whose novel Ébano, inspired by official UN reports, was in 1979 adapted as Ashanti, 1979 action adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer.
The plot begins in West Africa where two physicians working for World Health Organisation – Dr. David Linderby (played by Michael Caine) and his wife Dr. Anansa Linderby (played by Beverly Johnson) – arrived in order to carry out inoculation programme. During the visit to one village Anansa, who is descended from Ashanti people, is mistaken for a local by group of kidnappers led Arab slave trader Suleiman (played by Peter Ustinov). She gets abducted and brought to caravan carrying slaves over Sahara, while David, faced with difficult task of getting his wife back, gets help by antislavery activist Brian Walker (played by Rex Harrison), mercenary pilot Jim Sandell (played by William Holden) and native Saharan Malik (played by Kabir Bedi). They race against time across half a continent before the slaves, including Anansa, are delivered to prospective buyers, including wealthy and powerful Arab prince Hassan (played by Omar Sharif).
Critics greeted Ashanti with hostility and Michael Caine agreed with them, later describing it as one of the worst films of his prolific career. Film, in which the title role is played by a former fashion model, known as first African American to appear on the cover of Vogue and other prestigious magazines, at first glance might look an attempt to exploit both the exotic setting of Africa and subject matter usually associated with exploitation pieces, very much like Mandingo, infamous film directed by Richard Fleischer few years earlier. Ashanti, on the other hand, has diverse, solid and capable cast, with veteran Peter Ustinov enjoying rare opportunity to play chief villain on screen. Relatively high budget is put to good use, cinematography by Italian veteran Aldo Tonti is used for many attractive scenes that transcend predictable plot. The ending also feature dialogue exchange which looks quite prescient in the light of current debates about US foreign policy and dilemmas about promoting human rights vs. protecting strategic geopolitical interests in Middle East. Ashanti is not particularly memorable film, but those who watch it will yearn for a time when films about important social issues could be made without sacrificing their entertainment value.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/57926-ashanti
Critic: AA
