In the world of classical music, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart loom large. However, both virtuosos had male rivals of West Indian/African descent who were their peers. George Bridgetower (1778-1860) was an Afro-European violist and cellist who was born in Poland but settled in London at the age of ten. Beethoven greatly admired this prodigy. Afro-Caribbean Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), hailed from Guadalupe and was moved to France at the young age of seven by his wealthy father, who was a white plantation owner. Mozart was dazzled by Joseph’s music. Though George lived to be older than Joseph, both died penniless, with their exhilarating compositions and mutable lives practically erased from the annals of history and classical music. Bridgetower has remained in the collective consciousness through many mediums including animation and a jazz opera. He also appeared as a character in Immortal Beloved (1994), the Gary Oldman-starrer about Beethoven.
The term “chevalier” carried a lot of weight in France during the Old Regime. It was a title of nobility and Joseph Bologne, expert fencer and outstanding composer and violinist, was the only Black man to earn this title in France during this time. It is also the title of Searchlight’s film release. A sagacious encomium to musical genius Joseph Bologne, Chevalier is directed by Stephen Williams (Lost, Watchmen) and written by Stefani Robinson (Atlanta, What We Do in the Shadows). Both come from the realm of television and give a revelatory, joyous account of the forgotten maestro. Kelvin Harrison Jr. stars as Joseph and delivers an assured, passionate performance. Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton, and Minnie Driver also star.
Screenwriter Stefani Robinson spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about writing Chevalier.
On the Project’s Origins and Getting the Ball Rolling
I first read about Chevalier de St. George when I was in high school. So, I was about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was one of those historical figures I knew about for a long time. Obviously his story is so unique, so singular, so individual that even as a high schooler I thought someone should make a movie about him. I didn’t necessarily know if that person was going to be me. Years later, when I was screenwriting professionally, mostly in television, I was asked the question what I’d write as a movie, I mentioned his story, which had still never been told.
Stefani Robinson
I had a conversation with Searchlight, who ultimately made the movie and have been incredible partners on the journey. They were the first people I spoke to seriously about it. I was lucky enough that they shared my enthusiasm and saw the uniqueness of the story. They were astounded to that no one had heard of him or endeavored to tell his story. From then on, that was how the ball got rolling. It was drafts. It was meeting directors. Stephen came on board. Loads of prepping and more research. It was a challenging production, it being a period piece, and shooting in Europe during the pandemic. Kelvin needed to learn to play the violin. Casting. It was a tricky shoot. But we pulled it off and now, here we are.
On Doing Boundless Research
I discovered so much of Joseph’s music. That’s the crazy thing about him is that his music is a discovery for a lot of people. What I find inspiring about his music is how varied it is, from full orchestra concertos to quartets, to operas. He did violin solos and played the harpsicord. He was writing for a varied audience and wrote for various instruments. He was very prolific and seemed like he had a full understanding of not only his primary instrument, the violin, but also of his craft. He knew the difference in audience and presentation for a quartet vs. a comedic opera.
We don’t know a lot about his composing process, which is kind of the frustrating thing about his life. At least for me when I was doing the research at the time. We don’t have a lot of information that comes first hand from him, whether that’s diary entries or letters. What I can say, based on what I’ve read about him, is that he was a workaholic and threw himself into his work because he wanted to excel.
I learned Joseph had a very close relationship with his father. It’s not one we get really deep into in the movie. The truth is, his father was incredibly proud of him and loved him very much. Joseph was his only son. He wanted his son to excel. He sent him to the best schools. He made sure he was always at fencing practice or was playing the violin. I don’t think he was ashamed of him at all, but it must have been an incredibly complicated relationship because of the racial divide and the fact that Joseph’s mother Nanon was his property.
I didn’t find anything about Joseph being a spy for Marie Antoinette during my research. That could be conjecture. In my understanding, they were very close friends. He taught her music, and she frequented his performances and operas. They were in the same social circles.
After Marie Antoinette was beheaded, at one point, Joseph led an all-Black regiment against the Monarchy during the Revolution. He was at one point thrown in jail because he had been so close to the Monarchy. He was put in prison to be executed and at the last minute, for whatever reason, he was freed. After the Revolution, unfortunately, he died alone and penniless, of a bladder or kidney infection. He wasn’t famous anymore.
On Writing Her First Feature
In writing this, I pulled from all of my writing background! (laughs) I don’t think I’m a writer who’s so aware of drawing lines within genre in my brain. The project dictates what it needs and that’s the focus. The project or story is first and how I want to tell the story is the most important thing. In this case, it being a period piece and feeling operatic and conventional in the way that I wanted to tell it…I wanted it to feel like an accessible period piece that feels mythical or like a fairytale or like a classic hero’s journey. I took all of my experience and funneled it into the script.
There were so many more notes in features than in television! It’s like people can’t stop giving notes! In TV, I can write two drafts and everyone’s happy. If there are notes, they’re incredibly specific. There’s a lot more discussion and pages and pages of notes in features. That was the hardest thing for me to juggle – lots of voices, lots of thoughts, lots of ideas.
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving) and Phillippe (Alex Fizalan). Photo by Larry Horricks/ Searchlight
I think what I learned from this experience is that nobody knows the answer. We’re all just trying something and through this process, you have to be open to true collaboration and true experimentation and that should be the fun of it. It’s all about what the project demands and how you can best serve that.
On Collaborating with Director Stephen Williams
I worked extremely closely with Stephen. I did a few drafts alone before we hired him as director. Then we were blessed enough to have Stephen Williams come on board. He also comes from TV so I feel like there’s a shorthand there between us in how we like to work. We spent so much time at the height of the pandemic on Zoom for hours, researching… reading each other little bits of information that we found… sharing movies that were inspiring to us. We were really involved with each other throughout the entire process. He’s been an incredible partner.
