Chevalier (2022)
Shown last night at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF). It's a pretty high budget Hollywood film going into general release in April '23. Some known actors (Minnie Driver, e.g.). FWIW and if you've never been...the CIFF can be a lot of fun, but you have to sift through some garbage to get to the gems, which are usually small budget films from some little country...usually, not much about anything, but the film takes you somewhere you'll never go. In other words, you have to be committed to seeing a lot of movies, usually buy a pass for the whole ten days (not cheap). If you're willing to spend the time/money, it can be a fun experience.
In this instance, the film is pretty much a dog...you have to be suspicious about a movie of this size ($) playing at CIFF...though, there could be good reasons (get a read from an audience before release...might be the reason this film was showing). It is based VERY loosely on the life of Joseph Bologne (a bastard son of a wealthy French planter and an enslaved woman). His father takes him from the Caribbean to France, where he gets educated and becomes gifted at swordplay and opera composing. He is rising to stardom and influence and then, SUDDENLY, everyone realizes he's black and they treat him like crap. All of this is going on while the French Revolution is getting underway and Chevalier is interacting with people like Marie Antoinette.
The topic IS potentially interesting, but the movie just LAYS there...and it's all pretty predictable race formula stuff. Additionally, reading about him afterward...the person existed...the movie isn't very true to his life.