Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Film: Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019) Director: Richard Linklater Starring: Cate Blanchett

What do you think is the central theme the director wishes to convey?

I believe the film explores the understanding of identity. I deliberately use the word "understanding" rather than simply "recovery." Although the film touches on various themes, including artistic creativity and reconciliation within families and communities, its most fundamental concern is the understanding of identity through the character of Bernadette, a brilliant architect.

Throughout the first half of the film, Bernadette is portrayed not as an icon of the architectural world but as a hostile neighbor suffering from nervous breakdowns and social anxiety. Even her husband attempts to address her problems based on this perception. This portrayal contrasts sharply with the artistic temperament revealed later in the film, emphasizing the moments when her identity is finally understood and subsequently reclaimed.

As far as I can tell, there are two particularly significant moments of realization. The first occurs when Bernadette speaks with a Black architect who was her colleague twenty years earlier. The second occurs when she goes kayaking alone in Antarctica, admiring the glaciers and magnificent structures sculpted by nature.

Yet this understanding is not limited to Bernadette's perception of herself. In Antarctica, Elgin finally recognizes his wife as a brilliant artist and begins to see her for who she truly is. Rather than viewing her merely as a social outsider who struggles with anxiety, insomnia, and relationships with her neighbors, he comes to understand her as an artist whose extraordinary creative energy has been denied an outlet.

Furthermore, Bee's declaration that she will not attend a private boarding school and Elgin's decision to leave his work at Microsoft can also be interpreted as acts of understanding their own identities.

Thus, Antarctica serves as a powerful narrative setting in which identity is understood and relationships are restored. It is there that Bee and Elgin reconcile, and ultimately, all three members of the family find their way back to one another.

An Interpretation of the Title

When considering the title, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, I find it interesting to interpret "Where'd" not only as a contraction of "Where did" but also, somewhat unconventionally, as "Where would." Admittedly, the latter is not grammatically standard, but it offers an intriguing alternative reading.

The first interpretation seems to symbolize Bernadette's loss or neglect of her own identity. It asks, in effect, "Where has Bernadette, the brilliant artist, gone, and why has only this hypersensitive neighbor remained?" Of course, it can also be understood as foreshadowing her literal disappearance.

The second interpretation, however, suggests something closer to "Bernadette, where will you go now?" or "Where would you like to go?" This reading looks toward the understanding and eventual restoration of identity. It also aligns with the interpretation developed above.

Although it is unlikely that the director consciously intended such a reading, I believe the possibility of interpreting the title in this way is meaningful in itself.

Personal Reflection

Personally, I found the film genuinely exciting and inspiring.

Lately, I have been so overwhelmed by academic work that I have had little opportunity to write freely. Instead, I have been producing only the kinds of writing assigned to me. Watching this film, however, gave me a renewed sense of hope.

It encouraged me to reflect on why I have stopped writing, how deeply I once loved writing, and what made me love it in the first place. Indeed, the very fact that I am now connecting two forms of art I love—film and writing—through my own words may be one of the most valuable things cinema can offer.

I also found myself longing to pick up my camera again. A few years ago, I used to carry it frequently, but these days I rarely touch it. Along with the desire to write whatever I wish, the film awakened in me a longing to take photographs freely once more.

The thought of someday spending as much time as I want writing and taking photographs fills me with excitement.

From what I have gathered, the film has not received particularly favorable reviews. But if a film can hold such personal meaning and awaken such excitement in me, is that not enough to make it a good film?

It is certainly one I would like to revisit whenever I find myself in a similar state of mind.