PG-13 | 1h 47min | Drama, History, Music, Biography | 21 April 2023 (USA)
There are few lesser-known historical figures in need of becoming the subject of a sprawling screen biographical epic than Joseph Bologne. However, “Chevalier” is neither sprawling nor is it an epic and is, in effect, the cinematic equivalent of a half-complete CliffsNotes study guide.
Born in 1745 to a white plantation owner and his wife’s black servant in the French colony of Guadeloupe, Bologne was relocated by his father at age 7 to France where he was enrolled in a Jesuit boarding school in Angoulême. Within a decade, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison, Jr. in a career-defining performance) became one of the most respected swordsman in France and after defeating the acknowledged champion fencer of the day (Alexandre Picard), he was knighted “Chevalier de Saint-Georges” by French Queen Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton)….