Chevalier review – Kelvin Harrison Jr. impresses in an undercooked biopic

You’d expect an anachronistic historical drama about a French Creole classical musician and composer being radicalised by the racism he faces into joining the French Revolution would feel a lot more, well, operatic. Chevalier, which centres the artistic disillusionment of Joseph Bologne, doesn’t exactly hit the wrong notes, but it lacks the narrative tightness and invention to ever truly sing. There are isolated moments of brilliance in Stephen Williams’ film, but they end up being frustrating when the rest of the film won’t follow their lead – it’s like an orchestra being unable to keep up with a tremendous soloist.

Bologne’s initial impact on the French cultural elite isn't dissimilar from that of game-changing rock star smashing onto the scene – illustrated by a swelling opening scene where he hijacks a concert to upstage none other than Mozart. The first act shows a lot of promise; Bologne’s backstory as an illegitimate child of a wealthy landowner in the Guadeloupe colony is flashily intercut with demonstrations of his musical and fencing prowess, much to the disdain of bigoted aristocrats.

Despite some spotty accent work, Kelvin Harrison Jr. makes a powerful impression (having a very musical couple of years with Chevalier and Cyrano – even playing B.B. King in Elvis), imbuing Bologne with a freshness that cuts through the high society, while always having his guard up should they turn on him at any moment. It’s a blend of ambitiousness and rigid defiance, a mix of contradictions that, once his formerly enslaved mother (Ronke Adekoluejo) appears on his door, threatens to alienate him from his Creole heritage. To her, the way he dresses symbolises a repressive, racist order.

Something Stefani Robinson’s script understands is that if French society grants conditions to allow his career to blossom, they can always take them away the minute they find him too successful or radical. It’s a narrative vein that surges with deeply felt emotion, something that can’t be said for the illicit romance Bologne strikes up with Marquise and would-be opera muse Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving). There’s very little compelling about this tryst, and despite the powerlessness she feels in a marriage with an older, abusive general, rarely are the film’s attempts to invest us in her affair anything but feeble. If Chevalier was so interested in giving this female perspective the same depth as the rest of the persecution happening in France, it would have been nice to see the character from more than Chevalier’s point of view.

Even Bologne’s radicalisation feels undercooked; you can see his rejection from musical society coming a mile off and the road he takes towards revolution is clumsy as it crescendos. The film’s closing moments, set during Bologne’s final concert, reach a swelling highpoint, but it’s hindered by the realisation that the rest of the film should have been this strong. A film about an underappreciated virtuoso deserves to be better than average.

Chevalier is released in UK cinemas on 9 June.