In “Chevalier,” colonialism and paternalism have roles in shaping Bologne. No one can tear down an excellent Frenchman.” As the movie unfolds, that final assertion will require a qualification - namely, unless that Frenchman is Black - but the drive it instills in Joseph also resonates with the current celebration of Black excellence in the United States. Joseph’s father’s parting words as he leaves his young son at an elite school will become Joseph’s raison d’être as he excels in music, fencing and pretty much anything else he takes on: “Joseph you must be excellent, always excellent.
That this movie - directed by the Canadian filmmaker Stephen Williams and written by Stefani Robinson - leans too mightily on romance to the detriment of exploring more fully his genius feels like a missed opportunity. Outlier and insider, he’s a figure ripe for reclamation. He was, for a spell, an incandescent figure in Marie Antoinette’s court and later, after a change of allegiance, a military leader during the revolution. Born on the island of Guadeloupe, Joseph Bologne was the son of an enslaved Senegalese woman and a French plantation owner.
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