Chevalier

From the minute we saw the trailer for Chevalier I knew I wanted to see it. I have a thing for French Revolution stories (Les Misérables is one of my favorite musicals after all), add in some music and an attractive actor and I am pretty much sold.

First things first I think the funniest thing about any story that takes place in France, specifically French Revolution stories is that all the actors have British accents and that is something that we all accept as an audience for some reason. No matter that it's unrealistic and straight up doesn’t make any sense.

One of the best parts of this movie is that Joseph Bologne was a real person. Now I am sure that plenty of aspects of the film were fictionalized or straight up made up, but all plot points were true to the time period. Everything that the character of Joseph went through was something that would have really happened to him in pre-revolutionary France. I think that this film is important because most people haven’t heard his name before. And unless you are an expert in French history or music his name and accomplishments have really been lost to time. That said, I think the movie does an excellent job of giving the general public a solid foundation of who he is, whether or not every little interaction was fully accurate. It also seems that the film did do its research and the major events were accurate, as his reputation was destroyed we’d have to guess at the validity of the interpersonal interactions.

The movie was beautifully shot, the music was incredible and the acting was amazing. Upon personal research it seems the cast was pretty spot on, Joseph Bologne was a very attractive man and therefore Kelvin Harrison was the correct choice. The score is absolutely breathtaking and I can’t wait for it to be completely overlooked come Oscar award season, but it was truly that good.

Another reason I simply love the existence of this movie is that too often we forget everyone that helped make history happen. Any major revolution in history could not have been successful without the people that continued to be oppressed after its completion. When studying the French Revolution in school you don’t exactly get taught about the first black battalion, in fact it's not ever something that's brought up. So seeing the story of a real man that really helped fight the French Revolution was great, it's an important story.

This story could have very easily been mishandled, we’ve seen it before. Writers and directors trying to create something that will get a public response so they choose a story driven by race and write and direct it poorly. The story turns into a joke, stereotypes, white saviory, and just bad. But it was very clear that someone who cared about this point in history and someone that cared about this story wrote it. Stephani Robinson and Stephen Williams, two filmmakers of color are the ones that brought this story to life and it shows.

Overall the film is incredible, it enrages you in the correct way. It radiates heart and feeling. The relationships feel real, raw and heartbreaking. And you can’t help but root for Joseph and want what’s best for him. The way the film is developed and executed is truly beautiful and I struggle to find a reason to give it less then a 10/10 other then I swore that I would be harder on these movies this year. 2023 is truly another incredible year for film and I can’t wait for everyone else to see this movie.