Ashanti (1979 film) narrative location Africa
Ashanti (also called Ashanti, Land of No Mercy) is a 1979 action adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Michael Caine, Peter Ustinov, Kabir Bedi, Beverly Johnson, Omar Sharif, Rex Harrison, and William Holden. It is based on the 1974 novel Ébano by Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa, with a screenplay written by Stephen Geller and an uncredited George MacDonald Fraser. The story is set against the background of modern-day slave trading, with a man who determinedly takes on a perilous journey in order to find his beautiful wife, who has been kidnapped by brutal slave traders.
Despite its impressive cast and setting (on location in the Sahara, and in Kenya, Israel, and Sicily), Ashanti was widely panned by critics upon release. Michael Caine was reportedly very disappointed with the project and claims it was the third worst film along with his previous films The Magus and The Swarm (despite appearing in other failures in the 1980s). It was one of Holden's final films, and the final film of cinematographer Aldo Tonti.Plot summary
David and Anansa Linderby are doctors with the World Health Organization. On a medical mission carrying out an inoculation programme, they visit a West African village. While David takes photographs of tribal dancers, Anansa goes swimming alone. She is attacked and abducted by slave traders led by Suleiman, who mistake her for an Ashanti local. The police can do nothing to find her and David has almost given up hope when he hears rumours that Anansa has been kidnapped by Suleiman to be sold to an Arab, Prince Hassan. The African authorities deny that a slave trade even exists and David must find help in a shadowy world where the rescuers of slaves are as ruthless as the traders. As David tracks Anansa across Africa and the Sahara desert, he is helped by a member of the Anti-Slavery League, a mercenary helicopter pilot and Malik, an Indian who seeks revenge on Suleiman.