Kelvin Harrison Jr as Joseph Bologne and Joseph Prowen as Mozart. Photo / Supplied
Kelvin Harrison Jr as Joseph Bologne and Joseph Prowen as Mozart. Photo / Supplied
Chevalier opens with a young black man leaping onto a concert stage to engage in a “string battle” against none other than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. You’d assume it’s a fanciful fiction, but in fact Chevalier takes an unexpectedly true slice of 18th-century French history, sprinkles it with Bridgerton dust anda dash of artistic licence, and delivers a briskly entertaining, if largely unaffecting, romp.
It’s not unusual nowadays to recast staid old period pieces with an ethnically diverse cast without making mention in the script. But the incredible reality behind Chevalier is that once upon a time the son of a white plantation owner and a Caribbean slave really did become one of Europe’s most celebrated musicians.
In veteran TV director Stephen Williams’ telling, meek little Joseph Bologne is abandoned by his white father at a music academy where his mixed race sees him bullied by his hoity-toity peers. But with Father’s parting words – “you must be always excellent, a man of France!” – ringing in his ears, Bologne gets the last laugh as he ascends to the court of Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton, Bohemian Rhapsody) bestows upon the young virtuoso the title of Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
The film is no Amadeus in either dramatic or musical stakes, but Kelvin Harrison Jr (Cyrano) oozes charm as the cocky Chevalier vies to become maestro of the Paris Opera, while embarking on a risky love affair with a married woman (Samara Weaving). From here on, it it’s all sex, frocks and fevered arpeggios as the controlling husband (Marton Csokas) smells a rat, while the angry citizens of Paris smell gunpowder.
Chevalier plays with possibilities more than it adheres to history. (Google assures me that although there’s no proof he met Mozart, the two would certainly have known of each other.) But despite a fascinating basis, it’s a rather prosaic affair. Needless to say, though, the music is lovely.
Rating out of 5: ★★★
Chevalier directed by Stephen Williams is in cinemas now.
