Joseph Bologne is not an individual whose work is all that familiar even to classical music fans, but in late eighteenth-century France, his name was on everyone’s lips. A virtuoso violinist, Bologne composed a wide variety of musical works, including numerous string quartets, operas, and at least one (and perhaps two) symphonies. He also rose to the highest circles in Paris—his performances were attended by Marie Antoinette, and he enjoyed the patronage of members of the aristocracy, including the Duke of Orléans. A friend of Mozart and Salieri, Bologne hobnobbed with the great and the good and was received in court by King George III of Britain, rising to become one of France’s most acclaimed conductors.

A life studded with such feats would be enough justification for a biopic. But Bologne’s achievements were rendered all the more remarkable on account of his ethnicity—he was either Black or mixed race, having been born in Guadaloupe, then a French colony. Now Chevalier, which premiered in Toronto in September, promises a re-evaluation of his remarkable life and times. Here’s what to expect.

Plot of Chevalier

     Searchlight Pictures

Bologne’s life was not merely one of musical achievement, but one of passion and adventure. He courted and was courted by some of the most influential and powerful members of the French aristocracy, not the least of whom was Marie-Josephine de Montalembert, the wife of the marquis of Montalembert who became Bologne’s illicit lover and bore him a child.

Yet Bologne also had to contend with racism, and Chevalier promises to tackle all aspects of his life - his fame, his loves, and the obstacles he overcame - in what promises to be an intriguing and remarkable historical drama.

Cast of Chevalier

Playing Joseph Bologne is Kelvin Harrison Jr. He is an old hand when it comes to period dramas —his very first film role was as a bit player in Steve McQueen’s Solomon Northup biopic 12 Years a Slave (2013), and he also played a supporting role in 2019’s Bolden, about the pioneering New Orleans jazz cornettist Buddy Bolden. More recent work has included an appearance in The Trial of the Chicago 7 in 2020; opposite Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage in Cyrano (2021); and a turn as legendary blues guitarist B. B. King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022). Harrison Jr. is also due to contribute voice work to Disney’s prequel to The Lion King, provisionally entitled Mufasa: The Lion King, which is tentatively scheduled for a 2024 release.

Starring opposite Harrison Jr. is Australian actor Samara Weaving, who spent much of her early career working in Australian TV and cinema before coming to the attention of Hollywood in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Babysitter (both 2017). More recently, she received excellent notices as Bill S. Preston’s slacker daughter Thea in Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020), and co-starred with Eugenio Derbez earlier this year in the Hulu romcom The Valet. Weaving plays Bologne’s lover, Marie-Josephine de Montalembert.

Lucy Boynton also appears as Marie Antoinette, the queen of France. The English actor’s profile was significantly raised in 2018, when she played Queen frontman Freddie Mercury’s lover and muse Mary Austin in Bohemian Rhapsody, but much of her work since then has been in lead roles in television, such as Netflix’s The Politician, this year’s ITV remake of Cold War spy thriller The Ipcress File, and the miniseries adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, which debuted in March. Boynton also appears opposite the likes of Christian Bale, Toby Jones, and Gillian Anderson in the gothic period drama The Pale Blue Eye, which premieres later this month.

Rounding out the principal cast are Alex Fitzalan (Slender Man, The Society) as the Duke of Orléans, and Minnie Driver - set to return to our screens in Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin later this month - as ballerina Marie-Madeleine Guimard, whose ill will towards Bologne after he rebuffed her advances was to cause him much strife later in his life.

Release date

Chevalier is directed by Canadian director Stephen Williams, for whom it represents a return to film after more than two decades directing TV series including Lost, The Americans, and The Walking Dead. Another notable presence behind the scenes is Kris Bowers, whose rise in the world of scoring in recent years continues after the critical success of King Richard, for which he wrote the score, last year, and Bridgerton, which saw him earn two Grammy nominations for his theme and incidental music.

Chevalier premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11 and goes on general release in the United States on April 7, 2023.