GBEMI was released on September 6, 2019. I’ve watched GBEMI twice now and it’s a really nice movie. I think in a few hours, it will be taken down from the Damilola Mike-Bamiloye YouTube channel, so hurry and watch it.
I must commend the whole concept of a World Movie Cinema; it must have been divinely inspired. In the past, only those who attended the quarterly Drama Ministers’ Power Night had the opportunity to watch the premiere of the latest Mount Zion movies.
Later on, recent movies were taken to churches worldwide for premiering, but with this World Movie Cinema innovation, the whole world has access to MZFP’s latest hits.
Something similar was possibly done for Shackles, where just a little while after it was premiered at the June edition of Power Night, it was released online for a few days.
Previously, we’d have had to wait for a few months before purchasing Mount Zion DVDs and watching them then. The Bible says that the path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter (Proverbs 14:8), and sincerely, that’s what you see happening with Mount Zion movies. They just keep raising the bar of excellence with each film release; GBEMI does just that.
It was re-written for the big screen by Damilola Mike-Bamiloye and he did a fantastic job. Even though I’d read the novel before watching it, it felt like a new, yet familiar experience. Many elements were inserted into, and removed from the original story, but none took away from the brilliance of the other. It’s almost like they are the same story said by two people; there would logically be slight variations. It’s really hard for me to say which I like more between the novel and the movie.
When bestsellers are produced as movies in Hollywood, most fans usually want the film to look exactly like the novel. I’ve discovered however, that we just have to enjoy each genre for what it is. They have slight merits over each other in different aspects. The recreation of the story was amazing, especially noticed in how the character of John was introduced from the beginning. His background story of his relationship with Debby (Darasimi Mike-Bamiloye) is commendable and gives us some insight. In fact, I daresay that both reading the novel and watching the movie is something that gives you a wealth of entertainment and truth.
I was thoroughly impressed by the titular-lead character, Gbemi, played by the novelist Emmanuela Mike-Bamiloye, in her lead debut in a Moun Zion movie. She’s a natural; she delivered her lines comfortably, no stress. Remember that her previous appearance had been in STALKER (2017) where she was actually a protagonist but who through some brilliance in scriptwriting only got to say a few words. Now, we witness her acting skills and all I can say is that she is a natural. Kudos to her.
It has to be said that John played by Femi Adebile (Death in the Pot (2015), Gbajumo Were (2018)) is probably everyone’s favourite character. The owner of FEJOSBABA TV YouTube channel again carries his role excellently, with a lot of laughter on the way. The supporting cast also played their part in this production and it all results in a deeply satisfying movie.
When I watched it initially, I wondered if perhaps they could have gone into the background of Gbemi in greater detail as in the novel, but then I also realized that even without much of her origins, the movie is 96 minutes long, and it doesn’t even feel that long. Every scene is appropriate in length, so that probably at no time do we feel like a particular scene should end because it was dragging. The Singles’ Forum scenes particularly felt so real. Hence, the whole movie was just rightly paced. The soundtrack and background music were also done as appropriate, to make us laugh and feel sober at their proper periods.
If it is “rhema” you’re looking for, GBEMI has a lot of it.
If it is the lessons that can be learnt from this movie we’re talking about, they are innumerable and if it’s a question of the number of people it ministered to, they are immeasurable. Just a visit to Damilola Mike-Bamiloye YouTube channel speaks for itself. The movie has brought a lot of light to the paths of many, while many others can testify that the movie teaches the truth because they had passed through similar situations and God saw them through.
All in all, it was a fulfilling movie-watching experience. One thing I have to say is unique about this movie is the number of nuggets we can hold on to, and the one-liners that keep us laughing whenever we remember them. It tells me that you can pass your message across as a Christian writer in large quantities without affecting the plot or pace of your movie.
Have you watched it? Place your comments on the movie down below.
Until another blog post, see you.
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