This film might as well be re-titled "Genius at Work." Bernadette Fox was a distinguished architect in Los Angeles, when suddenly her designer home named the "Twenty-Mile Home" turned into a boondoggle. After purchasing it, the billionaire decided to demolish it and turn it into a parking lot. Bernadette then went into retreat and did not design again for nearly two decades. The film tells the story of the need of a genius to be engaged in the creative process as the essence of her life.
In the bonus track of the DVD, actress Cate Blanchett described her character as someone who was "not a good listener" to others because she was so wrapped up in herself. The solipsistic side of a genius is one of the main themes of the film. The psychiatrist who diagnosed Bernadette and recommended that she spend time in the Madrona Hill mental institution noted the "grandiosity" exhibited by Bernadette. The wise old architect Paul Jellinek put it even better when he stressed "the need to create" on the part of a genius.
Adapted from the epistolary novel by Maria Semple, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" includes a batch of generally obnoxious characters, not the least of which is Bernadette herslef. The loving husband Elgie and the miracle daughter Bee (Buzzy) offer Bernadette something close to unconditional love, yet still fail to reach her until she is finally back in her creative element.
Bernadette's husband Elgie, a creative artist in his own right as a designer for Microsoft, thinks of his wife in terms of a saint. The nickname that he gave her was Saint Bernadette, in honor of Bernadette of Lourdes, who created no less than eighteen miracles. But Elgie is faced with working a miracle of his own in order to bring the clearly depressed and unhinged Bernadette back to reality.
The film tended to ramble in its scenes and dialogue, and the long sequence in Antarctica at the end seemed forced and strained. Yet, the eccentric, wild, and wacky side of a genius made the film palatable, even if Saint Bernadette was just as hard for an audience to take as it was for the characters in the film.
In the bonus track of the DVD, actress Cate Blanchett described her character as someone who was "not a good listener" to others because she was so wrapped up in herself. The solipsistic side of a genius is one of the main themes of the film. The psychiatrist who diagnosed Bernadette and recommended that she spend time in the Madrona Hill mental institution noted the "grandiosity" exhibited by Bernadette. The wise old architect Paul Jellinek put it even better when he stressed "the need to create" on the part of a genius.
Adapted from the epistolary novel by Maria Semple, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" includes a batch of generally obnoxious characters, not the least of which is Bernadette herslef. The loving husband Elgie and the miracle daughter Bee (Buzzy) offer Bernadette something close to unconditional love, yet still fail to reach her until she is finally back in her creative element.
Bernadette's husband Elgie, a creative artist in his own right as a designer for Microsoft, thinks of his wife in terms of a saint. The nickname that he gave her was Saint Bernadette, in honor of Bernadette of Lourdes, who created no less than eighteen miracles. But Elgie is faced with working a miracle of his own in order to bring the clearly depressed and unhinged Bernadette back to reality.
The film tended to ramble in its scenes and dialogue, and the long sequence in Antarctica at the end seemed forced and strained. Yet, the eccentric, wild, and wacky side of a genius made the film palatable, even if Saint Bernadette was just as hard for an audience to take as it was for the characters in the film.