''Chevalier'' is a 2022 biographical drama film based on the life of the titular French-Caribbean musician Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who is played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. The film is directed by Stephen Williams and written by Stefani Robinson. It also stars Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, Marton Csokas, Alex Fitzalan, and Minnie Driver. ''Chevalier'' had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022.

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...

plans to release the film in theaters in the United States on April 7, 2023.

Plot

The rise and resurgence of Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a French-Caribbean violinist and composer (sometimes referred to by the derogatory nickname "Black

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

") who rose to fame through his musical prodigy. But a complicated love life and the racism of the ''ancien regime'' leads to a falling out with

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child ...

, and Saint-Georges realizes that things must change.

Cast

* Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges * Samara Weaving as Marie-Josephine de Montalembert * Lucy Boynton as

* Marton Csokas as Marc René, marquis de Montalembert * Alex Fitzalan as Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans * Minnie Driver as Marie-Madeleine Guimard

Production

On June 30, 2020, it was announced that

had bought a feature pitch from ''

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

''s Stefani Robinson for ''Chevalier de Saint-Georges,'' a biopic about the musician of the same name, with Stephen Williams attached to direct. On March 31, 2021, it was announced that Kelvin Harrison Jr. was cast in the lead role of Saint-Georges. On July 8, 2021, Samara Weaving joined the cast as the female lead. The following month, Lucy Boynton and Minnie Driver were added to the main cast, with Alex Fitzalan cast in a supporting role and the film's title shortened to ''Chevalier''.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on September 7, 2021, in Prague, Czech Republic and filming ended in November 2021.

Release

It had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2022. In October 2022, the film was officially given a release date of April 7, 2023.

Reception

On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 94% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 67 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

References

External links

Official website
* {{IMDb title, tt12758486 American biographical drama films American films based on actual events Biographical films about musicians Drama films based on actual events Films about Marie Antoinette Films about marriage Films about music and musicians Films about society Films scored by Kris Bowers Films set in France Films set in the 18th century Films shot in Prague Searchlight Pictures films 2020s American films