“THE TRAIN” – FANTALK

1. CAST

Mike Bamiloye is played by Oluwaseun Adejumobi, the founder of Fruit Bearers’ Films. You must have seen him in movies such as Boomerang and A Tenant in Hell. Gloria Bamiloye is played by Mike Bamiloye’s second daughter-in-law, Tolulope Mike-Bamiloye who has featured in Not an Orphan and Shackles 2.

We can see Omolara Ayoola featuring prominently in the production pictures, most likely playing the role of Mike Bamiloye’s mother-figure. Adeola Adetoye is also seen here; my guess is that she’s a younger version of Mummy Gloria, or probably a younger version of Mike Bamiloye’s mother, or maybe an elder sister to him.

Tobi Olumuyiwa is probably playing the role of Evangelist Yemi Adepoju whom Daddy Mike must have met when the ministry started. We also see Olumide Oki and though he doesn’t appear in the trailer, we can assume he plays the role of one of those that worked with Mike Bamiloye in the ministry. There is a host of other cast such as Moses Korede Are, Adedeji Adekusibe and John Oguntuase.

2. CREW

There is an abundance of cast and crew in this movie. I read from an instagram post of Mike Bamiloye that the cast that worked on this movie totaled up to 300. I think that’s the largest ever in the history of Mount Zion Film Productions.

The film is directed by Yemi Adepoju and Isaac Femi-Akintunde, while Damilola Mike-Bamiloye is the DOP and I think he also wrote the screenplay for this. Joba Adepoju is the soundman here while we also see Tomisin Fasola and Tobi Olumuyiwa assisting the DOP. Kolo Peter is also among the crew and definitely, Tunde Owah is the production manager.

3. PLOT

Initially, I thought that this story was mainly going to be about Daddy Mike’s childhood but the trailer gives a more expansive picture. We see a shot of him as a toddler and probably as a twelve-year old. I guess that a lot of action takes place at this stage of his life. A teaser of The Train was released online in late March where we get a hint of his interesting childhood. Apart from scolding him, the trailer shows John Oguntuase’s character running into him while another scene shows him falling down with a tray of yams on his head.

It seems he’s either a troublesome child or just misunderstood because in one scene, a fetish priest has a confrontation with him, and in another scene, Remi Bangboje seems to be a prophetess praying for him.

The trailer also suggests that Evangelist Mike Bamiloye has always had a bit of drama in him. He appears to enjoy watching TV, probably in a neighbour’s house and probably practises what he’s seen later.

Then, we see him with his afro looking a bit like a teenager, probably an eighteen year-old. Much later, he is seen to have become a teacher who still had that calling of the drama ministry on him.

Later on, we suppose that he’s yielded to the call and begins to act drama. We see him doing some make-up for himself in a place that looks like a backstage or dress room as they prepare for a ministration. More interesting is the fact that it seems like his first son looks up to him as he is seen applying some make-up too. We also see a bit of the mannerism associated with Baba Abejoye in a scene where father and son make some gestures in prayer.

There are also pictures of the character of Mike and Gloria getting married and we can see how the movie has tried to replicate the real life clothes won by the couple on their actual wedding day.

Let me say here that I’m awed by the sheer amount of detail and effort that must have gone into this production. The movie is set across three or four decades from the 1960’s. We see only two children with the couple in the pictures, so we maybe can assume that Darasimi the third child had not been born then. So, we can deduce that the temporal setting of the movie probably ended in the early 1990s.

So, the costumes of all the actors, the buildings…everything is as you’d find at that time. I mean look at these trousers on Olumide Oki and Tobi Olumuyiwa. The whole set design is wonderful and this was most likely done by Johnson Babatola.

The make-up also looked accurate. The afro on Abayomi looks realistic, and then, Lara Ayoola’s outlook is very convincing for maybe a 50 year old woman.

From these pictures, it’s possible that not many people were expecting Daddy Mike to turn out well, given his seemingly troublesome childhood, but it’s clear that he is celebrated when he comes back to his home town with his family.

A quick word on the trailer itself: amazing. Look at the reference to Mike Bamiloye’s performance in Agbara Nla Part 1; the improvisation of the Agbara Nla soundtrack, the alignment of the bass with action points of the video was awesome.

To watch the video of this Fantalk, click below: