Movie review: Thumbs up for Frankie and Felipé

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“We wanted to tell a different story about people of colour,” said Solomon Cupido at the film’s official unveiling for the Silwerskermfees, South Africa’s equivalent to the Cannes Film Festival. Cupido co-wrote the movie and stars as Felipé, with the late Bradley Olivier playing Frankie. “Many stories are produced, but few about coloured people with money, status and achievement,” he added.

Like mac and cheese. That’s Frankie and Felipé.

Perhaps the comparison is unfair. Because, as delicious as the homely dish can be, you can’t avoid the tsunami of guilt at consuming empty calories, right? OK. So, this new South African film is like a mac and cheese, but in a world where it would be healthy to eat.

Frankie and Felipé are half-brothers raised in the blue-collar Cape Flats, yet separated when the family hits dire straits. They lose touch and while one remains in the neighbourhood, the other finds his way to a promising future in a swanky corporate job in the city.

Frankie is on the verge of marrying the love of his life, getting into the family business and entering a life of privilege. Felipé, on the other hand, has found himself on the hook with a money-lending gangster. By a stroke of luck, he’s watching when a TV interview unwittingly reveals Frankie’s location and good fortune.

Felipé jumps into action for the pot of gold to end his troubles. Their reunion is the story’s exploding pressure cooker. Not only is a fancy wedding at stake, but Frankie’s invitation into a well-to-do family is, too. Frankie is caught in the middle, squirming between a past and a future. It’s a very watchable film, as local-is-lekker comedy and momentum carry you through to the veggies – those truths that lie at its very heart, which the storytellers invisibly weave into its fabric.

Photo: YouTube screenshot

“We wanted to tell a different story about people of colour,” said Solomon Cupido at the film’s official unveiling for the Silwerskermfees, South Africa’s equivalent to the Cannes Film Festival. Cupido co-wrote the movie and stars as Felipé, with the late Bradley Olivier playing Frankie. “Many stories are produced, but few about coloured people with money, status and achievement,” he added.

There’s a lot of pride in this hometown production, shot in Cape Town and the surrounding winelands. That said, there’s a universality to the story through its investigation of cultural identity and its many complex forms that will make it live among similar South African classics. Think Craig Freimond’s Material (2012) and Amy Jephta’s Barakat (2020).

Its successful translation to the screen says as much for the directorial skills of Marvin-Lee Beukes and for Danie Bester as production mentor, as it does for the actors themselves. It certainly didn’t hurt that a small industry like South Africa’s stage and film industry makes for close relationships, especially considering that the film was born out of Cupido and Olivier’s close friendship. There’s a rapport on-screen that certainly comes across as unrehearsed. Plus, let’s hope someone’s got a blooper reel, because that will surely be something to watch. Added to this is the experience of veterans Zane Meas and Ilse Klink, and the verve of Kim Syster, Bianca Flanders, Danny Ross and Lee-Ann van Rooi.

But back to the mac and cheese. This recipe has crispy bacon that comes in the form of two stand-out characters: security guard Deon, played by Bouwer Bosch, and the gangster Madame Bennas, played by Shimmy Isaacs. Like much of this movie (and mac and cheese, for that matter), they’ve got fan club written all over them.

Frankie and Felipé opened in movie theatres countrywide on 23 February. Watch the trailer here:

Also read:

’n Behind-the-scenes dialoog met die produksiespan van Barakat – family is a mouthful

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