Chevalier is an American biopic about Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (played here by Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the first major classical composer of African descent. It was directed by Stephen Williams from a screenplay by Stefani Robinson.
Joseph, the mixed-race son of a plantation owner and Nanon (Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo), a slave, is born in Guadeloupe and educated in Paris after his father notices his skill at music. His skill and charisma eventually make him a favorite of Marie-Antoinette (Lucy Boynton), who knights him "Chevalier de Saint-Georges". He aims to become the director of the Paris Opera, but French high society stands in his way. But The French Revolution is also brewing, threatening major upheaval.
The cast includes Samara Weaving as Marie-Joséphine de Montalembert, Marton Csokas as her husband, Alex Fitzalan as the Duke of Orleans, and Minnie Driver as Marie-Madeleine Guimard.
The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival ahead of a theatrical release on April 21, 2023.
Tropes:
- Chocolate Baby: Marc-René has his wife Marie-Joséphine's new baby killed after seeing it has dark skin, suspecting that the child is not his, but the Black Saint-Georges'.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Saint-Georges' embracing of his African heritage is signified by his rejection of the white powdered wig and publicly wearing his hair in cornrows.
- Establishing Character Moment: Joseph's prodigious skill at music and confidence are both established in his first scene, where he challenges Mozart himself to a violin-off and holds his own.
- Mal Mariée: Marie-Joséphine, an intelligent and vivacious young singer unhappily married to the significantly older, stiff-upper-lipped, unartistic Marquis de Montalembert, unsurprisingly begins an affair with her handsome peer Saint-Georges.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Saint-Georges and Marie-Joséphine. She's white, rich, and married; he's black, the illegitimate son of a slave, and a self-made-man, it's 18th century France — you get the picture. Despite their romantic affair, they don't end up together.
- The Whitest Black Guy: After being freed, Saint-Georges' mother Nanon comes to join him in Paris. She accuses him of changing himself to fit in with the white-dominated French upper class. He later appreciates this view after his fall from grace and becomes more in touch with the African-descended community.
