REVIEW: New Film Chevalier Celebrates the Extraordinary Composer Joseph Bologne

Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Luce, Monsters and Men) stars as composer and polymath Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, alongside Samara Weaving as Marie-Josephine, Lucy Boynton as Marie Antoinette, and Minnie Driver as La Guimard in Searchlight Pictures Chevalier.

The Story

Kelvin Harrison Jr. shines as the charismatic violinist-composer who rose to the top of French society as a renaissance man that ultimately had all of his work burned and destroyed, trying to erase him from history. Born in 1745 on the island of Guadeloupe, he was the illegitimate son of an African slave from Senegal and a wealthy French plantation owner who placed his son, during his teens, in an esteemed and privileged private school, La Boëssière Academy. He studied music, math, literature, and fencing and mastered his already budding expertise.

Director Stephen Williams (Watchmen) and screenwriter Stefani Robinson (Atlanta) chose to give a fresh take on Joseph based on extensive research, including many of his accomplishments, to give a modern view on what his life what have been like during those times based on key facts.

Rising Fame

Within Chevalier, which is set in the 18th century, Bologne has a very close friendship with Marie Antoinette, only to have it take a dark turn when he rose just a bit too high in the ranks for some of his jealous and racist competitors, as he put in a bid to lead the famed Paris Opera House. A vindictive petition to remove him by a rejected La Guimard, who Bologne refused to sleep with, caused the riff that severed the friendship and ousted him from an illustrious production starring the married lover (Marie-Josephine) of the composer.

Saint-Georges was Europe’s most undefeated fencer and was a famed dancer, equestrian, and fashion trendsetter. He had audiences in the masses as he was known to push instruments to their limits at his concerts, even being credited with violinists dueling, which we see in the opening of the film where Saint-Georges challenges Mozart.

He composed some of the world’s first string quartets to enhance the music of the Baroque era, even influencing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was made an officer of the King’s Guard and dubbed Chevalier de Saint-Georges in 1762 by Marie Antoinette. 

History Repeating Itself

Chevalier‘s real-life inspired story mimics the greatness and excellence of Paul Robeson, the Rutgers graduate who excelled in not only theater but also the first Black student to earn a varsity letter in every major team sport, dominated academics and the arts, and who also was an activist.

We hear these stories all too often on Saint-Georges and similar, even with modern-day Little Richard, who helped to inspire the Beatles, David Bowie, and Elton John, to then have their greatness unrewarded, ignored, belittled, destroyed, and muted only to be revealed decades and centuries later to the masses to right the wrong of their oppression.

Like Robeson and Richard, Saint-Georges was an activist as an abolitionist and revolutionary throughout Europe, he sailed to Saint Domingue to support a slave revolt and ultimately was a victim of the Reign of Terror and spent eighteen months behind bars.

Performances

Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s performance is stellar in Chevalier, and we were told that he studied the violin for 7 hours each day to master the role. He’s mystifying on screen and nails his performance bringing depth to this multifaceted character that struggles with finding his connection to his mother and his Senegal roots, which are beautifully shared on screen.

Samara Weaving was also fantastic, as his lover and lead singer for his intended Paris Opera production, and the two had incredible chemistry as the film explored how Saint-Georges was searching for acceptance and thinking in his greatness that he would be acknowledged and honored; it doesn’t usually end that way, even in today’s modern times. Bologne loses his lover, and it takes a tragic turn with their illegitimate son simultaneously as he loses his production and his friendship with Antoinette.

Costumes

The costumes were beautiful and were vibrant like candy with pastels bouncing off of the screen, thanks to costume designer Oliver García who focused on the many textures of the time period, including silk, feathers, and lace. The score was the real-life music of Bologne that he composed from 1745-1799 reimagined by Michael Abels (Get Out, Bad Education, Us, Nope ), working on preproduction producing and arranging scores and supplementing some of his own work alongside composer Kris Bowers (Richard, Respect, Bridgerton, Green Book), who composed the original score for the film with a modern take.

Hair and Makeup

In addition to the hair and makeup (Roo Maurice) and production (Karen Murphy) for Chevalier, which is simply gorgeous, the story is wildly entertaining and passionate. While some may question how much of the film is real and fiction, only a modern mindset will be able to see that the film is most likely not far off from the talented, charismatic, and handsome genius Bologne was, who had the wit, skillset, and charm to run in circles that back then were unheard of.

Chevalier hits theaters on April 21.