Directed By Stephen Williams

Starring – Kelvin Harrison Jr, Samara Weaving, Lucy Bointon

The Plot – Based on the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Harrison Jr) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Boynton) herself and her court.

Rated PG-13 for thematic content, some strong adult language, suggestive material and violence

POSITIVES

Unearthing the legacy of one of classical music’s most gifted composers is compelling enough, but when that man is of African-American descent, who ultimately led the revolutionaries to war against the French, then you’ve got yourself a story that seamlessly lends itself to screen. Thankfully, Williams is happy to oblige, stitching as much dramatic intensity and stakes to the engagement that not only helps to alleviate this period piece from the stuffiness of most installments of the genre, but also grants the film an abundance of personality in both its visual and dialogue capacities that immediately grip and maintain its audience throughout, with a presentation that spares no cent in fleshing out the familiarities of the geographic relevance. In that aspect, the expansive essence of the costume design, complete with cotton robes and Victorian suits, makes this an easy transportation to the trends of the time, emitting upper class elegance and tastefulness that never sacrifice a radiance of color for the mass of its bold and even comfort-condemning designs. In addition, the film’s lighting schemes help towards conjuring the artistic intoxication of the film’s entrancing framing techniques, and the intimidating cinematography from Jess Hall articulates the imposing nature of racial divide through the depiction of one man standing against hundreds, whether on or off of the stage. But ultimately it’s Williams who imbeds the most importance to the engagement, illustrating Joseph’s talents with a combination of confidence and charisma that makes him an easy protagonist to invest in, especially against the backdrop of racial divide, which comes to define France for the time frame in the ugliest of circumstances. Because of such, Williams isn’t timid of embracing climatic drama, in fact, urgency is something that positively and negatively come to define his debut feature length film, bringing the fiery energy of his expansive television experience for a period piece biopic that I wouldn’t typically expect, unless the unorthodox was a gimmick of its own in the structure. Lastly, there’s a decorated surprise behind every corner with the ensemble, but it’s especially the work of the main trio who are most impactful in their against type approaches to their respective roles. Boynton and Weaving simultaneously shut off the typecasting that has unfortunately defined their careers to this point, bringing elegance, passion and the occasional tenacity to the scenes that test them in respective paths of female power and persuasion. But it’s ultimately Harrison who once again proves why he is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors of the next generation, with charisma and fearlessness for Joseph that made him such a revolutionary for his time. Kelvin doesn’t quite escape into the role in a way that visually or spiritually afford his familiarity obscurity, but there’s a commitment to his work as Bologne that effortlessly antithesizes the many internal pressures that the man continuously faced, both as a prodigy composer or racial divides, affording him a stoicism that is matched brilliantly by Harrison’s smoothly easy-going charisma that makes the most of these occasionally tense interactions.

NEGATIVES

Issues with the film range between big and small, but ultimately all of them keep “Chevalier” from reaching the kind of potential as a biopic that stands with some of the best of all time, from every time period. Most importantly, the script is a surface level exploration of Bologne himself, but also of the events depicted, making the film feel like it’s constantly on fast-forward as it only slows down to point out the Wikipedia summary of the most vital events of his life. Part of this problem can easily lend itself to the magnitude of a life like Joseph’s being unable to be fully conveyed in a 102 minute run time, but for my money the script is often at odds with itself in making this about Joseph, instead of the things that Joseph did, and that disjointed juxtaposition comes across in structuring and conventionalism for formula that often get the better of it and him, leaving us informed on the things that the revolutionary did, but not as much about who he was underneath the public perception. In addition to this, the film’s conflict mostly centers around a blossoming and forbidden love between Joseph and Marie-Josephine (Weaving), but the chemistry between the actors never replicates the energy or appeal of their performances, leaving the angle a bit undercooked in reaching the investment of the audience behind it. This is an issue for me because we as an audience have to believe that these two were made for each other in order to properly gauge the magnitude of their untimely tragedy, especially since Joseph himself is the primary motivator of aggressively pursuing this married woman. Finally, it’s a bit strange and consistently surreal that so many French characters are speaking with British accents, especially since this happens most frequently with characters a part of the French army. This is typically something I always listen for in geographic-specific stories, and if done by one or two characters, it could easily be overlooked. But it’s a mainstay in the duration of the experience, which constantly broke my investment to the authenticity of the engagement, in a film that can’t even follow the rules of logic to the execution.

OVERALL
“Chevalier” oversteps a frustratingly shallow character exploration and lukewarm romance for a starting point biopic into the life of one exceptionally gifted artist, which remains as relevant now as it ever has before. With anchoring performances from its youthful ensemble, as well as three-dimensional production designs, the film channels the right place at the right time, but just isn’t thorough enough to satisfy curiosities in the person behind so many fascinating talents, leaving an entertaining period piece biopic at best.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-