140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Not nearly as crappy as it looks, this 1979 star-packed anti-slavery film could have actually been a good picture with a little more care…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Ashanti:
A tale of modern day slavery (well, 1979 modern day). Don’t know how I’ve never heard of this before now. Starring Michael Caine, Peter Ustinov, Omar Sharif, Rex Harrison AND William Holden!
The film is based on the novel Ebano by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa, which was itself based on a true story. Directed by Richard Fleisher, Ashanti is an absolutely horrific tale that doesn’t shy away from the most distasteful aspects of the sickening world of slavery.
Caine and model turned actress Beverly Johnson play Doctors David & Anansa Linderby who work for the World Health Organization (WHO) providing care in West Africa. When Anansa is kidnapped by slavers, David must traverse the continent to try and get her back before the party crosses the Red Sea.
It’s really great to see well-seasoned vets like Holden and Harrison. With their names in the credits I somewhat expected them to stick out like out-of-place cameos, but these are real (if small) parts. Ustinov is very interesting as the slaver Suleiman; it’s the first villain role in his entire career.
Michael Caine’s character is so bizarre. Out in a strange land where he doesn’t speak the language, know the customs or have any resources, he is deeply mistrustful and hostile to the few people who offer assistance. I get the lack of trust, his wife has just been kidnapped after all, but why is he pushing away the only people who want to help?
Good looking picture; well-shot, beautiful country. (Filmed in Kenya, Israel & Sicily.) Also well-shot ugliness at times. The seventies music is a drag, though, really making the project feel low-rent…
Things take a really weird turn past the one hour mark when one of the slaves proves himself to be a witch doctor. Truly bizarre and completely atonal considering the grounded quality of everything up to that point…
Kabir Bedi as Malik, a wronged husband and father seeking revenge on Sulieman has a wonderful intensity.
Even with Caine doing his version of phoning it in, he still burns with an intensity in many scenes. He’s such a fine actor that when he coasts he’s still leaving many others in the dust. Unfortunately I suspect he knows this. Caine has disowned this picture, shamelessly admitting that it was a paycheck project that he has no love for. Firstly, I resent actors pulling that crap; you took the job, you took the money, it’s bad form to deride the project. A lot of people work hard on even the world’s worst films. It’s insulting and disrespectful to their efforts to run down the picture just because you’ve moved on. I’m a firm believer that when you take on a job you have a responsibility to give it your best effort and far more importantly your best intentions. The producers aren’t simply paying you to show up and act – I believe there is a duty to try to make the picture work beyond your time in front of the lens. You should take your part in promoting the work; speak well of the film, or at least speak no evil. And even if you think you are above the project, don’t let it show.
Omar Sharif is such a great actor that they had to bulk up the part for him. I’m not complaining, particularly, as he’s always great to watch, but it does add a sort of unusual turning in the last 15 minutes of the picture.
The ending, with things tied up so neatly, is so pat and unsatisfying it nearly made me go back and remove anything positive I said about the rest of the film. The feel of the final shots is completely disrespectful to all of the characters who suffered and died in the story.
Despite the poster, Ashanti is not actually an exploitation picture. It doesn’t deal in casual, cruel violence, sexual or otherwise. There is casual, cruel violence, and there are definite trigger points for victims of abuse, but it is never glorified or presented in an voyeuristic or exploitative manner. This movie deals with hard truths and doesn’t flinch from showing them, but no more so than a documentary on the same subject – never for entertainment value or as a storytelling tool.
Ashanti is an interesting film. Very uneven, but there are some really interesting moments. Some of the chases through the Sahara are very fine. With some more work this truly could have been a good picture.
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: C (4 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Michael Caine Dr. David Linderby Peter Ustinov Suleiman Kabir Bedi Malik Beverly Johnson Dr. Anansa Linderby |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Sun 01 Apr 1979 UTC |
| Director | Richard Fleischer |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Thriller |
| Plot | Dr. Anansa Linderby is kidnapped in a medical mission in Africa by a slave trader. From this moment, her husband will do anything to recover her and to punish the bad guys, but that will be not an easy task. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 118 |
| Tagline | Slave trading lives today! |
| Writers | Stephen Geller (screenplay), Alberto Vázquez Figueroa (as Alberto Vasquez-Figueroa) (novel) |
| Year | 1979 |
