Tetteh Quarshie remains a celebrated figure in Ghanian history for bringing cocoa crops to his region. The “how,” of course, was tentatively subject to scruitiny when local filmmaker Frank Fiifi Gharbin set out to adapt the late 19th century agriculturalist and blacksmith’s tale for his third feature film only to hit a legal snag with Quarshie’s family earlier this year ahead of a planned screening. That his film, Heroes Of Africa: Tetteh Quarshie, is circulating at festivals otherwise indicates that the film now checks all required boxes to satisfy the Quarshie estate, and with none other than Bernard Adusi-Poku starring in the title role from a script also by Gharbin.
Our story sees Quarshie endowed with an enchanted amulet by a forest deity, which she says will protect him from harm until his very last breath. Later that day, Quarshie met with weasley friend Ofui (Kwadwo Nkansah), expressing that he would like to go on a voyage to a far away land where he could acquire all the riches and wealth – a land said to be full of diseases which only kill white men. Quarshie begins his journey only to find Ofui clumsily trailing him, eager to acquire the same riches, only the two discover they’ve been coralled by a group of slavemasters led by Francisco (Flemming Bill Faddersboel), and his vicious right hand man, Master Baron (Van Vicker).
Tasked with mining the forests for precious cocoa pods, the days pass long enough until Quarshie finds himself one day promoted by Francisco, who offers his own bungalow and position of stature on the plantation. Little does Quarshie know that he will also be cornered into making a life or death decision that will force him to choose a dying man’s wish, or subject himself to further degradation at the hands of a sellout plantation runner with an iron fist, and Scorpion (Andrew Ntul Mensah), a chief guardsman with his own posse and no compunction for being unreasonable with his cruel methods.
It’s that wish that offsets the rest of the film in its more explosive second half, but it’s interesting and equally important to note how the film starts: A full five-minute adrenaline-fueled action sequence featuring armed gunmen chasing three men, ensuing several stylish martial arts exchanges that have become increasingly prolific in African cinema in the last decade. The rest of the film departs from that tone, but what it lacks in its earlier-targeted fan service, it makes up for in compelling story build-up and progression that keeps things moving, with hit-or-miss performances that still keep you engaged as long as things are happening on screen.
That especially goes for the film’s more mystical elements, which also includes a priestess who appears out of nowhere to provide guidance to the comically villanous Master Baron when he has a dream that leads him to suspect he’s been stolen from, and the one moment when Quarshie’s amulet activates in the midst of a heated fight for his own life outside of using his own skills and brooding strength.
As far-fetched as it plays out in certain parts, it’s safe to say Heroes Of Africa: Tetteh Quarshie isn’t exactly biopictoral material. That’s not to say there’s no veracity in some of the more nuanced and fantastical aspects of the film in terms of faith and the fantastical, and so there’s plenty to enjoy and take away from what Gharbin shares with this peculiar and rare adaptation of the kind of story seldom pushed for the Western world.