Chevalier

Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, was a celebrated violinist, composer and fencer in 18th-century France, the son of an enslaved African woman and a French planter. Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays him rising to the court of Marie Antoinette, then falling foul of it.

Stephen Williams' film is a vivid, sometimes fanciful period drama, but it puts back into history a figure who was nearly erased. It's a story about genius allowed only so far, and about choosing between belonging and freedom.