Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner and suburban theaters.
A flawed costume drama, “Chevalier” is based on the true story of the 18th-century French-Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (Kelvin Harrison Jr., “Elvis”). The film is set in pre-revolutionary Paris. This is no French “Hamilton.” “Chevalier,” which was written by Stefani Robinson (TV’s “Atlanta”) and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Stephen Williams (TV’s “Watchmen”), begins in the former Palais-Royal across from the Louvre, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Joseph Prowen) plays his violin literally hopping around the stage in joy before a packed house when a “dark stranger” approaches asking to perform with the maestro. A bewildered Mozart agrees only to have Bologne spin rings around the him in a Fifth Concerto No. 5 battle of the fiddles. The scene ends with a Mozart comically crying, “Who the (expletive) is that?” (in English as is the rest of the dialogue).
As it turns out, Bologne is the son of an enslaved African woman and a French Caribbean plantation owner George Bologne (Jim High). In flashbacks, Bologne’s father takes him to Paris with him as a boy and installs him in a boarding school, where he is, of course, the object of violent racist abuse. At the same time, he becomes a master musician and a superbly accomplished swordsman.
Soon, although I am not sure how this happens, Bologne is on friendly terms with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton), the “Let-Them-Eat-Cake” Queen of France herself. He is also on deadly terms with none other than the established German-born composer Christoph Gluck (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) with whom Bologne competes for the position of director of the Paris Opera. In order to settle the dispute, Bologne and Gluck are commanded by the Queen to compose and mount an opera and a committee will decide which is the better and that will determine who gets the prized position.
The competition also allows Bologne to spend more time with a married singer named Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving, “Scream VI”), whose husband the Marquis de Montalembert (veteran Marton Csokas, playing the heavy) is an enforcer for the Queen. Montalembert, who has dark storm clouds hanging over his head and whose job is to root out traitors to the monarchy, believes performing on the stage is akin to being a prostitute. Ouch. He punctuates his nasty observations about his wife and 18th-century show biz by firing a cannon, if you catch my drift.
Yes, “Chevalier” is not subtle, and it is not very good, either. The dialogue is often stilted and obvious. Harrison plays the lead like an arrogant narcissist, who is so full of himself that he is oblivious to the danger he puts himself into when he and Marie-Josephine begin a torrid affair while Montalembert is “away” on the Queen’s business.
Another sign of the weakness of the film is the way director Williams under-utilizes Minnie Driver as the over-the-hill diva La Guimard. Scream Queen Weaving, who resembles Anya Taylor-Joy, and Harrison have little chemistry. As Joseph’s more skeptical and fearful mother Nanon, who bonds with the Black-Caribbean community of Paris, Ronke Adekoluego makes you want to see more of her (and her friends). Alex Fitzalan cuts a sympathetic figure as Joseph’s endangered, political-activist friend Philippe. The talented Csokas is left to glower. Rediscovered music by Bologne in the film includes his “Violin Concerto in G Major, Op. 8, No. 2: I. Allegro.” End credit captions tell us that Bologne led a pioneering Black regiment in the French Revolution. Can I see that film instead?
(“Chevalier” contains sexually suggestive language, profanity and violence)
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