Based on the true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who rises to heights in French society as a composer before an ill-fated love affair.

‘Chevalier’ is a biographical drama about a little known French-Caribbean musician who was one of the first Black composers to attain critical acclaim within Europe. He was Joseph Bologne, the son of a slave owner and one of the woman enslaved under him, with the status of his father providing him with more opportunity than would have ordinarily been granted to a man of his race at this period in time. He lived in the 1700s in the lead up to the French Revolution, and ‘Chevalier’ follows his story as he moved through French court circles, gaining favour with Marie Antoniette and other nobles on account of his prodigious talent as a violinist and composer.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. stars as Bologne in another French period role after ‘Cyrano’, and I thought his performance was good as a man both too black to be fully accepted by the French aristocracy, yet too noble to be a man of the people. We follow his life as he develops his talents to a level that brings popularity, money and the chance to be the maestro of the Paris Opera, but he also develops enemies as he begins an affair with the wife (Samara Weaving) of a marquis (Marton Csokas, channelling his best Inspector Javert). The contradictions in Bologne’s life provide some good material for ‘Chevalier’ to explore, but I did find it didn’t quite have the depth I was looking for and too often it felt like a run of the mill music biopic, of which I’ve seen many.

The performances are good and the central character’s life is interesting enough to keep an audience entertained, but I felt that ‘Chevalier’ could have elevated itself a little more than what it ultimately ends up being – a conventional music biopic.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Stephen Williams

Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Marton Csokas and Minnie Driver

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt12758486/