Chevalier Trailer unveils the vivid, timely story of the soaring rise and defiant spirit of the musical phenomenon, Joseph Bologne, aka the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, in the upcoming film. Directed by Stephen Williams, the film is written by Stefani Robinson and produced by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe at Element Pictures, Stefani Robinson, and Dianne McGunigle.
The official synopsis of the film reads – Inspired by the incredible true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr. in a tour de force performance) rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with an ill-fated love affair and a falling out with Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton) and her court.
The stellar cast of the film includes Kelvin Harrison Jr as Joseph Bologne – Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samara Weaving as Marie-Josephine, Lucy Boynton as Marie Antoinette, Minnie Driver as La Guimard, Sian Clifford, Alex Fitzalan as Philippe and Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo.
The Chevalier was what we would call today a superstar—a blinding multi-talent at the top of several games. He was a virtuoso violinist who gave packed concerts, a champion swordsman, an ingenious composer; and, for a time, one of the most alluring, unexpected members of Marie Antoinette’s glittering court.
While many documents about him have been destroyed in the Napoleonic times, the details in the film are imagined based on extensive
research of the period. It shows a buoyant and aspiring vision of a young boy, who comes to Paris, a place which is not exactly kind to him. But driven to create and to truly be who he was, no matter the expectations put upon him, or the dreams forbidden to those like him, he achieved what many couldn’t.
In the trailer, we see that Joseph Bologne believes that if he can just excel at everything he does, he’ll be accepted into aristocratic society.
But what he discovers is that social acceptance is not what counts. It is self-acceptance that is most important in a life journey and there might be many prejudices of the society that he will have to fight, no matter how much better he is, than his counterparts.
Watch Chevalier Trailer
The film is set to be released on April 7, 2023, by Searchlight Pictures in all theatres.