Chevalier

When I first saw the commercial, I was intrigued to watch this movie. One of my friend won a preview today at 7:30p, which was pretty packed with folks. The movie is quite good, made me teary and there were moments which really made one admire how it must have been for a talented young man who lived during such difficult times. Though I am glad I managed a sneak preview, I would definitely suggest buying a ticket, sitting back and listening to the lovely music played. While I do enjoy some classical music, learning of Joseph's life and his musical talent needs to have more focus on it and hopefully this movie can help bring that to light.

A fantastic life story, and great piece of history, that is relevant today, presented with impressive music, in nice sets (except CGI) and pleasant costumes. Should be great.

Yet a childish story and similarly childish storytelling, and the overwhelming abundance of barnstorming scenes removes this film from the realm of cinematic art. Uneven acting does not help and the anachronistic dialog (and make up) adds to the feeling of a B movie or propaganda piece, especially that what was meant to be character development is decisively cartoonish.

I am not sure what else to say to hit six hundred. I was not bored and neither I resent that we watched this movie but am not thinking back to it with appreciation.

Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) was born in Guadeloupe to a white plantation owner and his black slave. He is given an education in France despite racism towards his status. He becomes a great composer and violinist teaching the ladies of high society. He has an affair with the married Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving). He impresses Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and is knighted Chevalier de Saint-Georges. With revolution brewing, a weakened Antoinette denies him the directorship of the Paris Opera due to popular racist sentiment.

I didn't know this fascinating historical figure. This biopic is competent for the most part. I really don't like the Mozart opening. It's just name dropping. In a way, that's what Joseph is doing at that moment challenging Mozart in public. It would be a great opening if Mozart is an important figure in his life. Instead, it's an one-and-done. I kept waiting for his rivalry with Mozart to begin. It takes some of the steam out of the story. Otherwise, this is all about the lead, racism, and the unknown historical figure. It's generally pretty good.

I am so disappointed. 1. I love the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. 2. His life story is fascinating 3. It's a shame we don't learn about him like we do his friend and contemporary Motzart, who was slightly less famous in their lifetime (this erasure of his history was systematic by Napoleon, who wanted to re-engage France in the slave trade). 4. Stephanie Robinson, the writer, kills on 'Atlanta' and 'What we do in the Shadows.' So I was excited about this! And it failed.

Just historically inaccurate, which made it less exciting and interesting. His relationships with every historical character in the movie, including his parents, were totally false. His relationship with the French Revolution was inaccurate.

I don't understand why you'd lie to make a story worse. His actual life story is so captivating. Skip the movie, put on the Chevalier de Saint-Georges' Spotify, and read his Wikipedia page instead.

I don't quite understand the furious negativity about this film - as I thought it was highly watchable. I am a classical music lover, and I've known - and hugely enjoyed - the music of St Georges almost from when first recordings were released. He was certainly one of the most remarkable men of his time - supremely gifted: a brilliant violinist, composer, and swordsman (as indeed shown in the film); and known in France as "Le Mozart Noir" - the black Mozart.

The film certainly takes liberties with the facts (insofar as they are known), and the director admits that the opening musical duel between Mozart and St Georges never happened: this idea was based on the similar musical duel between Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. But so what? It makes for good cinema.

So you can't really call the film a biopic; it's more of an historical fantasy based around St Georges and the tumultuous times of pre-revolutionary France. His music gets a bit of air-play, as it should, but in fact not much really, and I found I didn't mind. I was quite happy simply to be swept along by it.

And it is really very well staged: the costuming, the scenery (both inside and out) are nicely done - I don't know how historically true they are, but for me that doesn't matter. And I thought that Kelvin Harrison Jr was quite fantastic, bringing a gravitas and a passion to his role as the Chevalier.

Weak points were his co-stars: Lucy Boynton as Marie-Antoinette seemed petty and a real light-weight, far from the imperiousness one would expect from the Queen of France. She also seems to wander about quite a bit, especially given the grumblings from the revolutionary mob. The scene in which she appears in St George's lodgings to put him down, she sounds more like an aggrieved shopper being given the wrong change. Samara Weaving is pretty enough, but seems to have no depth of character. Her husband the Marquis de Montalembert is played by Marton Csokas, who acts more like a small-time crook or stand-over merchant than a real menace.

There are times - and possibly too many of them - where the film dragged and seemed to lose its direction and focus. It could do with more rigorous editing and lose 10 or 15 minutes to tighten it up.

For all of those reasons I was going to give it 6/10, but my partner - a much more fierce and demanding critic than me - thought the film was terrific and worth 8/10. So I'm compromising with 7!