What is “Blacker” than a battle between two skilled artists? Thus, the opening scene of Chevalier. A young Mozart prances across the stage for an all-white audience visibly bored with this piece. After the obligatory applause quiets down, an unseen voice from the back of the theater suggests the next song. Mozart obliges and turns to his orchestra to begin, but the voice interrupts, asking to join him. Up the aisle strolls a young Black man in fancy 18th century dressings. The room is still. Mozart is taken back by the request, but assents with barely hidden disdain when the Black man steps onto the stage. Mozart makes an ugly joke about his dark skin and unlikely ability to keep up. Now the audience is interested and so am I, because I know, no Black person challenges an accomplished artist such as Mozart without undeniable confidence in his own skill.
Mozart begins and the man plays along. To everyone’s surprise, his strokes are flawless and intonation beautiful. But something changes. The man departs from the original and delivers unrecognizable chords. They’re soulful and rhythmic now. The man continues playing as he glides across the stage, using every step to deepen his melodic expression. The audience is awestruck and following his every move. This angers Mozart as he instructs the orchestra toward another movement of the song; one requiring his own unique picking and quick pace. It doesn’t matter. The unnamed man continues to best Mozart using Mozart’s own composition against him, but with undeniable style and the orchestra following his lead. When he’s done, the audience rises in ovation. Mozart leaves the stage in a huff, “Who the hell is that?”
That first scene of Chevalier caught me off-guard and before I realized it, I was halfway through the film.
“Chevalier” is a biopic about Joseph Bologne, a French-Caribbean musician and champion fencer in the 18th century. A master violinist and composer, whether it was with music, fencing or quick wit, he could beat anyone in a duel. Although Bologne was born of an enslaved woman, his aristocratic father saw his talent for music and shipped him off to a Parisian boarding school where his talents could be broadened. The film is a glimpse into his time there until he was given the title, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, by Queen Marie Antoinette, a rare feat for any man, let alone a Black man.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Godfather of Harlem, Waves, Elvis) stars as Bologne. Harrison Jr. draws us into Joseph Bologne’s life and character. He was charming and sometimes arrogant, a Black man completely sure of himself, but a bit sad and lonely behind the eyes. When we meet the renaissance man, he’s in the prime of his life, enjoying the dinner parties, wealth and women that come with a title. We cheer for Bologne as he rises to fame and fortune, but unlike the naive Bologne, we know the fun will not last in a world that labels him “the mulatto”. Yet, we hurt for him when he is betrayed by his benefactor, Marie Antoinette, because of discrimination. It’s only when his forbidden lover’s husband sends soldiers to beat him down, that he realizes he is barely a guest in the world where he assumed his talent bought him a seat at the table.
Harrison Jr. is accompanied by familiar faces in the supporting cast, including Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) as Marie Antoinette, Bologne’s friend and patron; Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Guns Akimbo) as Marie-Josephine, Bologne’s married lover and muse; and Marton Csokas as Montalembert, (The Equalizer, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) Marie-Josephine’s husband and Bologne’s eventual rival and enemy. They all add depth and drama to an equally tragic and triumphant story.
Discover Chevalier now on Hulu.
