‘Frankie en Felipé’ is a bittersweet comic treasure from the Cape Flats

Frankie en Felipé captured this writer's heart from its opening beat: Two mischievous boys are chased down the Cape Flats streets by a shop owner. What’s their story? When you find out, you will laugh and cry.  

Frankie, played by the late Bradley Olivier, and Felipé, played by Solomon Cupido, are half-brothers who grew up under unfortunate circumstances. The boys are separated when Frankie’s stepfather puts him at an orphanage. Although Frankie’s mother fought the idea, her huffing and puffing did not have much oomph, and she was left with the guilt of abandoning her son.

Jump to more than a decade later and their lives have changed completely.

Frankie is living a life Felipé could only dream of, working as an overachieving advertising executive at his soon-to-be father-in-law’s marketing firm, about to marry into a wealthy family and having changed his name to a “more marketable” Frankie Blaze.

Felipé, who did not make it out of the Flats, is still living with their mother and drowning in debt, thanks to a lurking loan shark. Their mother is sick and he has no choice but to hustle for her medication by trying various business ventures, including a flopped counterfeit perfume business.

Felipé finds his estranged brother after 15 years in the hope that he will help him clear his debt to Bennas, the loan shark, played by a convincing Shimmy Isaacs. What Felipé doesn’t know is that in Frankie’s world, he and their mother are a dirty secret.

How long can Frankie keep them hidden? Finding out is the best part of the movie.

(Photo: kykNET)

Renewing an old story

(Photo: kykNET)