

Director Frank Rajah Arase's The Hearts of Men features my favourite movie love scene of all time, Ghanian or not. Richie (Majid Michel) has finally got Tracy (Yvonne Nelson) alone. All of the lights are on and it's the sexy middle of the day. It's been a long and hard road leading to this meeting: Richie, a renowned defense lawyer, eligible bachelor, child rapist and famous movie star and his lover had to trick his best friend Kay - a rich business owner - into marrying Tracy, first of all. Then Tracy got mad because Kay employed an old female friend as a secretary, so Tracy went to his office and attacked her. Then Tracy's body was discovered in a ditch, and Kay's secretary was seen with a poorly bandaged headwound leaking blood onto her face, which she claimed was from a car crash. SPOILER ALERT! READ FURTHER AT YOUR OWN RISK! Later that day Kay is found covered in blood and cocaine. Richie helps him (defense lawyer), then shoots him three times in the back in a field (rude as hell)! Kay then goes to Accra and eats a bun on a stoop and sucks blue juice from a plastic bag. Meanwhile, Tracy (who's not dead! the body was a double) and Richie are getting funky up in each other. Richie cold licking the back of Tracy's leg, Tracy grinding her face into a pillow, grimacing like she's being choked by a stinky ghost... so romantic. And controversial!
Apparently, many Ghanian movie fans are scandalized by the film's frank sexuality, decrying it as a symbol of Ghana's further slip into pornographic Western degradation. I can see it: the humping in this movie is pretty provocative. We at one point get to see Richie's hairy pimpled ass pumping up and down, which was great, but then the woman he had sex with (the night before his wedding!!) is found murdered in the shower (??). Richie escapes punishment because the police, who were looking for an escaped gunman, decide they don't need to look in the hotel bathroom because they like Richie's movies (sex movies??). As for those who would deride the film as a morally lax sex-abration, well I say fiddle-faddle. In addition to the wanton leg-licking and tongue-jamming, Richie also rapes his nieces and impregnates them and also rapes, impregnates and then forces three abortions on a 12 year old girl. So you know, sex is bad obviously.
Boasting a stellar cast of Ghanian who's-whos, The Hearts of Men cost my friend Rajo two dollars at a Nigerian video store and has a part where Tracy says to Kay, "Ok… my name is Tracy, I'm a librarian, and um… an orphan by the winds of destiny. I am actually the only surviving child from my family. I'm going to the mall." It's great and you might even be able to watch it on youtube. A lot of the actors can't stop looking into the camera. One even waves! Also there is a montage of cars intercut with buildings and goats and the theme song of the film goes "there's no turning back when the heart decides, actions can be dangerous". I give this a high score.
The trailer: