Chevalier

Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges is born on Georges de Bologne's plantation in Guadeloupe. He is the son of Georges and Nanon, a young enslaved woman. The birth sets the stage for his later life as a celebrated musician navigating a white-dominated society.

As a child, he is taken to a boarding school in Paris after his father recognizes his musical, dancing, and fencing talents. He endures harassment and mistreatment from white peers and teachers, yet he excels in violin playing and composition. The Paris upbringing introduces him to the social climate he must navigate as a Black artist.

At the royal court, Marie Antoinette is impressed after seeing his fencing prowess. She grants him the title Chevalier de Saint-Georges, elevating his status at court. This recognition foreshadows his later influence and the temptations of royal favor.

Saint-Georges becomes a favored companion of the Queen and a popular presence at court. He attracts many female suitors, notably Marie-Madeleine Guimard, but he falls in love with Marie-Joséphine. The romance deepens his ties to the royal circle while complicating his public image.

He aspires to become director of the Paris Opera, but the committee backs a rival, Christoph Willibald Gluck. The setback highlights the barriers white institutions place before a Black artist. He proposes proving his talent through bold, high-profile projects.

Saint-Georges seeks support from Stéphanie Félicité, comtesse de Genlis, who agrees to stage an opera he has written to demonstrate his talent. Marie-Joséphine agrees to be the lead singer, even though her husband refuses to allow it. They begin an affair that intensifies his connection to the circle around the court.

After his father's death, his mother is freed from enslavement, and he pays to bring her to Paris. He grows to resent her, feeling she pressures him to suppress his true self to fit white society. He also becomes ambivalent about the growing social discontent and the large Black population in Paris.

Marie Antoinette tells him that the committee will never choose a Black performer. She refuses to defend him, choosing to preserve her standing among the nobility. This rejection hardens his resolve to pursue independence.

Saint-Georges attends Gluck's debut, drinks heavily, and publicly insults Gluck, Guimard, and the Queen. Marc-René has him restrained and beaten for dishonoring his wife. The humiliation deepens his estrangement from the court.

Months later, Marie-Joséphine gives birth to a mixed-race child, who is killed on her husband's orders. This act deepens Saint-Georges's ostracism from high society. He chooses to seek solace by returning to his mother and embracing his heritage.

With the Revolution underway, he organizes a concert to raise funds for the anti-royalist cause. Marie Joséphine and Marie Antoinette visit him separately seeking reconciliation, but he rejects their approaches. His performance symbolically aligns him with revolutionary ideals and artistic independence.

Marie-Antoinette and Marie Joséphine visit separately seeking reconciliation, but he refuses to return to their orbit. The rift solidifies his break from royal favor and his pursuit of artistic independence.

During the concert, he performs with his hair unpowdered, openly embracing his heritage. He is nearly arrested by Marc-René, but the audience rises to defend him and refuses the order to stop. He exits to the sound of protestors.

The textual epilogue notes that in 1802 Napoleon prohibited Chevalier's music productions and reinstated slavery in French colonies. The film uses this to contextualize Saint-Georges's legacy within the larger history of France. The ending places his career against the ongoing oppression embedded in power structures.

Late in the 1770s, Mozart visits Paris and invites Joseph to accompany his performance of Violin Concerto No. 5. The audience initially underestimates Joseph, but his playing silences the critics. The two musicians then duel with battling cadenzas, ending in a triumphant display for Joseph.