The Beeber Bifocal house is adorned with art made from recycled eyeglasses. We learn early on that Bernadette Fox (Blanchett) is living in a rut. At the same time, she seems to have reached a breaking point, and eventually she goes missing right as the family is supposed to be heading toward the South Pole. “It is what CVS should be!” And eventually the two great works Bernadette created before she cut her career short are revealed (the reason why she turned her back on architecture also comes to light, but we won’t reveal that here). But I retain the right to be incredibly moved by those little things no one notices, you know, for better and worse. Whether you agree with that or not, it's hard to deny that Blanchett was the right genius for the role of Bernadette Fox, the central character in this delightful and eccentric adaptation of Maria Semple's 2012 novel. Which meant it was important to the film’s art department to create a cohesive aesthetic for her current home and her past projects. CATE BLANCHETT AND EMMA NELSON: (As Bernadette Fox and Bee Branch, singing) If you're lost you can look and you will find me time after time. The name of the city is Gardena; it has three syllables, and it's pronounced with a hard "N" before the final A. Our engineer today is Charlie Kaier. After studying at Princeton and working under legends like Frank Gehry, Bernadette (played by Cate Blanchett) received a MacArthur “genius grant.” She completed two projects that, in the story, remain iconic within the architecture community. Blanchett headlines the adaptation as Bernadette Fox, an introverted woman and stay-at-home mother who hates other people, leaving the house and the parents of the other kids at her daughter’s school. She and her family live in a decrepit former school atop a large hill, with plenty of areas left unfinished (plants regularly poke through the floorboards, and Bernadette lovingly cuts holes in the carpet to give them more room to sprout), though a few choice rooms are decorated with style. But in its own way, this story is also about the passage of time, the way life can thwart an artist's hopes and dreams. Bernadette can be acerbic, tender, charming and maddening, sometimes all at once. But in its own way, this is also a story about the passage of time, the way life can thwart an artist's hopes and dreams. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. The script, which Linklater wrote with Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr., has a shambling but tightly plotted structure that keeps throwing you off-balance. Our associate producer for digital media is Molly Seavy-Nesper. She's dived into unmapped caves deep in the earth and into the crevices of an iceberg. “The blue that I had picked for most all the other rooms was a small chip that we found in the original and was a very popular color in the 1800s—a very utilitarian sort of steel gray that sort of fell in my jewel-tone range that I saw.”, “I had picked a jewel-tone range that I thought was nice, dark, and rich, with sort of a layer of fog over it,” Curtis says of decorating Bernadette’s home, “giving note to Seattle and also sort of dampening the vibrancy of Bernadette’s character and highlighting the turmoil that she’s going through in that space.”. The title of Where'd You Go, Bernadette asks what happened to the brilliant creative force Bernadette used to be. Their life together seems chaotic but reasonably happy at first. Embarrassing First Name: Bee's real first name is Balakrishna. JUSTIN CHANG, BYLINE: The writer-director Richard Linklater has said that he cast Cate Blanchett in his new comedy, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" Billy Crudup makes a nice voice of sanity as Elgie, a Microsoft tech visionary who helps keep his wife grounded. Adapting Maria Semple’s 2012 wild, reckless bestseller seems like a logical next step on that turbulent maternal highway, given that it told the story of an architect named Bernadette Fox. Bernadette’s most famous piece of work, the 20 Mile House, was digitally rendered for the film. Facing north, the house sits on a 94.65- by 140-foot parcel at one end of the two-block Brookdale Heights Preservation District. The director also has an instinctive affection for artists, and you can feel his sympathy and his respect for Bernadette surging through every scene. Bernadette and Elgin moved to Seattle from Los Angeles 20 years earlier, after the unexpected demolition of Bernadette’s most personal project, a residence called the Twenty Mile House, shortly after its completion. No other all-inclusive wedding venue compares to the historic charm and natural beauty of Twenty Mile House. Notably, this is the first Linklater movie to feature a solo female lead, and Bernadette instantly emerges as one of the most vibrant and complicated characters in the director's filmography. On Monday's show, our guest will be underwater explorer and photographer Jill Heinerth. 8. Section 5.6.1 describes the environment that could … Film critic Justin Chang has this review. Second was her penchant for knitting. Two things provided a starting point for Curtis and his team. Cate Blanchett stars as Bernadette Fox, a once-legendary architect who hasn't built anything in decades, in, Originally published on August 20, 2019 9:36 am, Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. And though Curtis and his team didn’t actually get to build it, they imposed the same parameters on themselves when creating the computerized renderings and plans shown in the movie. Our website, archdigest.com, offers constant original coverage of the interior design and architecture worlds, new shops and products, travel destinations, art and cultural events, celebrity style, and high-end real estate as well as access to print features and images from the AD archives. The gorgeous polar scenery becomes a chilly backdrop for one of the sweetest movie endings I've seen this year. She lives with her tech-genius husband and their daughter in Seattle, which she loathes. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a 2019 American comedy-drama film directed by Richard Linklater from a screenplay by Linklater, Holly Gent, and Vince Palmo, based on the novel of the same name by Maria Semple.It stars Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, and Laurence Fishburne.. Where'd You Go, Bernadette was released on August 16, 2019, by … Then she quit. But all is not well with Bernadette, who loves her family but can't stand anyone else. In the end, Bernadette Fox’s fictional works are a fascinating amalgamation of all of the best real architects and artists of our time. She's seen hidden creatures old as dinosaurs and scenes of surreal beauty. She soon settled in Seattle with her husband and became a mother to a brilliant girl, Bee. “The wallpaper in the great room was a custom wallpaper from the 1900s. Whether you agree with that or not, it's hard to deny that Blanchett was the right genius for the role of Bernadette Fox, the central character in this delightful and eccentric adaptation of Maria Semple's 2012 novel. (Again, this seems a more likely gambit of either the 1970s or the 2000s than the 1990s.) BLANCHETT: (As Bernadette Fox) We're not? BIANCULLI: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. I will be waiting time after time. BLANCHETT: (As Bernadette Fox) The banality of life. People have their own visions for those. It was an original pattern, and we changed and altered the colors to join our palette,” says Curtis. The movie is more conventionally constructed, and in some ways it feels like a lark for Linklater — a zippy, lightweight diversion compared with the more audacious dramatic experiments of Boyhood and the romantic trilogy that began with Before Sunrise. Their life together seems chaotic but reasonably happy at first. Bernadette Fox is a promising architect who left Los Angeles brokenhearted after her award-winning project the “20 Mile House” was bought and demolished. The second was a project called the Twenty Mile House. And it's both funny and painful to watch Blanchett strip away the character's psychological defenses layer by fragile layer. “I had unearthed it through a book of landmark architecture of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,” says Curtis. Did Bernadette have any extenuating circumstances in regards to her actions? The movie is an adaptation of a novel by Maria Semple and also features performances by Billy Crudup, Emma Nelson, Kristen Wiig and Laurence Fishburne. Blanchett imbues Bernadette with the perfect mix of paranoia, vitriol, and cynicism, but as is the case with many architects, Bernadette’s work is just as much a part of her character as her mannerisms are. BIANCULLI: Justin Chang is a film critic for the LA Times. © 2021 Condé Nast. On the basis of his new film, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Richard Linklater wouldn’t be much good at what TV writers call “breaking” a story — … “I believe she was a modernist at heart,” explains Curtis. The third act sends the characters through a whirlwind of farcical twists and emotional reckonings, but it also becomes a genuinely stirring tribute to a woman rediscovering her true calling in the unlikeliest place imaginable. Earlier, Bee's parents had told her she could have anything she wanted if she got a perfect report card for all her years in this school. Bernadette is a brilliant, legendary architect who once designed an eco-friendly modernist home built completely from materials sourced within a 20-mile radius. The title of "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," asks what happened to the brilliant, creative force Bernadette used to be, but it also takes on a more literal meaning when she escapes an intervention that her husband has arranged, concerned about her increasingly erratic behavior. Blanchett plays Bernadette Fox, an award-winning architect known for designing the 20-mile house, a futuristic eco-friendly dwelling constructed of materials sourced within a 20-mile … To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. Bernadette is a brilliant, legendary architect who once designed an eco-friendly modernist home built completely from materials sourced within a 20-mile radius. Teenage Bee (Emma Nelson) is the light of her life; interacting with her seems to be the only thing that brings Bernadette any joy. “We had a lot picked out off of Mulholland, and we were very mindful of the geography and the topography of how to lay this design in there, where it would, you know, be, and what your view would be,” he says. During the YouTube video of Bernadette's architectural career, the narrator states that concrete for the 20 Mile House came from nearby "Gardenia." After her mother's disappearance, 16-year-old Bee Branch gathers correspondence relating to her mother in order to ascertain what has happened to her. Say “I do” on your own estate set in the heart of the Sierra Nevada. This is why I don't want you to come to the elephant dance. The script, which Linklater wrote with Holly Gent and Vincent Palmo Jr., has a shambling but tightly plotted structure that keeps throwing you off balance. BLANCHETT: (As Bernadette Fox) I just need you to know how hard it is for me sometimes. She then pours her soul into constructing a house in California made entirely out of used material sourced within a 20 mile radius from said house. Since her move to Seattle, Bernadette focused on family life and left her budding career behind. Only researchers and scientists go as far as the South Pole. Sporting a brown bob of hair, she likes to hide behind dark sunglasses and look the other way when she's approached by adoring fans or local busybodies, like her overbearing neighborhood nemesis Audrey, played by a terrific Kristen Wiig. So when Bee asks if they can take a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for her perfect report card, Bernadette says yes, even though she is terrified at the thought. Bernadette goes on that trip to Antarctica by herself, and Elgie and Bee chase after her; much beautifully controlled chaos ensues. But that was two decades ago, before she hit a major slump, and she hasn't created anything since. Instead, she beats her classmates to "genius" status by staying close to home. TWENTY MILE HOUSE IS TUCKED AWAy ON 200 PRISTINE ACRES OF THE SIERRA NEVADA MOUNTAINS. Bernadette’s living room is a rare put-together space in her home. At times, Bernadette's nerves are so raw and exposed that she might remind you of the desperately neurotic widow the actress played and won an Oscar for in "Blue Jasmine." Her built work was about using what you have at home, in the neighborhood, or within a 20-mile-radius, rather than globe-trotting. Ad Choices, In the charming new movie based on the best-selling book, Cate Blanchett plays a troubled architect who disappears. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is based on the book of the same name by Maria Semple, which was published and became a huge hit in 2012. As singular as Bernadette is, she feels distantly related to all the marginalized misfits and wayward souls Linklater has gravitated toward in movies as different as Slacker and School of Rock. She calls it the “Twenty Mile House.” Then everything goes to crap. Twenty years ago, Bernadette Fox was at the cutting edge of green design before such a thing existed. She created an award-winning residence named 20 Mile House because all of its parts were sourced from within 20 miles of its location. Now Bernadette is somewhat reclusive and quirky, to say the least. Bernadette goes on that trip to Antarctica by herself, and Elgie and Bee chase after her. In the weeks leading up to the vacation, flashbacks reveal more about Bernadette’s past as an architect, and the painful reason she left her career behind. We had to create her,” the film’s production designer, Bruce Curtis, tells Architectural Digest. You might not have heard of the architect Bernadette Fox, but in the fictional world of Maria Semple’s 2012 novel, Where’d You Go, Bernadette—and now in director Richard Linklater’s film adaptation of the story, out August 16—she is kind of a big deal. She was once a promising architect until an ugly situation involving her greatest creation – the famed “20 Mile House” – put her into a decades long exile. § 542(a); and (2) Issuing a Writ of Execution Pursuant to Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 7070 EH__ Docket 224 10/14/2020 BACKGROUND Do you think she could have had a career in architecture with actual clients? CATE BLANCHETT: (As Bernadette Fox) Oh, Bee. Evan J. Herbert in 1928, it is situated about a mile northwest of downtown Fullerton, California, in a homogeneous neighborhood that still reflects its 1920s development. - the new movie by Richard Linklater - Cate Blanchett plays a once-famous architect who's been stuck in a creative rut for 20 years. It took three separate locations to create Strait Gate School for Girls for the film—a Pittsburgh studio for the kitchen, a Waldorf school for the hallways and Bee’s room, and for the rest of the home, a condemned Second Empire–Italianate house built in 1870 called the Hays Mansion. Blanchett gives a splendidly mercurial performance: At times Bernadette's nerves are so raw and exposed that she might remind you of the desperately neurotic widow the actress played — and won an Oscar for — in Blue Jasmine. In his latest film, Linklater confronts the gap between youthful expectation and the specter of failure. Her work is so dangerous a hundred of her friends and colleagues have died in dives. 7. She's a brilliant, legendary architect, who once designed an eco-friendly modernist home built completely from materials sourced within a 20-mile radius. She may be a misanthrope, but she's a misanthrope you can't help but love, whether she's launching into one anguished verbal aria after another or dictating lengthy, punctuation-free emails to her virtual personal assistant. Bernadette prefers not to. 6:17-20092 Mark Bastorous and Bernadette Shenouda Chapter 7 #2.00 Chapter 7 Trustee's Motion for Order (1) Compelling Debtors to Turn Over Property of the Estate Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Says Curtis, “We followed a great many things to arrive at her style.”. That moment was not the result of movie magic. The 20 Mile House is Bernadette’s crowning glory—a modern abode she constructed in Los Angeles using only materials found within a 20-mile radius from the site. Sporting a brown bob, she likes to hide behind dark sunglasses and look the other way when she's approached by adoring fans or local busybodies — like her overbearing neighborhood nemesis, Audrey, played by a terrific Kristen Wiig. Now she lives in Seattle, in an enormous ramshackle house with her husband, Elgie, and their teenage daughter, Bee. “Chihuly white-gloved it out there and they installed it,” says Curtis. The writer-director Richard Linklater has said that he cast Cate Blanchett in his new comedy, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, because, in his words, "only a genius can portray a genius believably.". Specializing in all-inclusive eco-wedding packages you will have exclusive use of our 200 acres of magnificent gardens, flowing creeks, lush forest and our enchanting facilities and accommodations all with a backdrop of blue mountain skies. This is FRESH AIR. She’s the winner of a MacArthur “genius” grant for creating her 20-Mile House, constructed from materials sourced within 20 miles of the home. In the film, one of architect Bernadette Fox's two notable projects is the Beeber Bifocal house, which she built inside an abandoned glasses factory using recycled materials. Early in the film, Bernadette’s home hints at her distaste for waste and her crafty style. Our technical director is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support from Joyce Lieberman and Julian Herzfeld. CHANG: As singular as Bernadette is, she feels distantly related to all the marginalized misfits and wayward souls Linklater has gravitated toward in movies as different as "Slacker" and "School Of Rock." Billy Crudup makes a nice voice of sanity as Elgie, a Microsoft tech visionary who helps keep his wife grounded. “I got that chill that I get as a designer when I saw it through the weeds.” After spending thousands of dollars and two months just to ensure that the house was safe for a crew to stand in, Curtis’s team dressed the home in jewel tones. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Architectural Digest may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. If you fall, I will catch you. because in his words, only a genius can portray a genius believably. “I hate the word folky, but she has a piece in the folk medium,” says Curtis. In "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?" Dumpster Dive: Bernadette did this a lot when building the Twenty-Mile House. NELSON: (As Bee Branch) We're not going to the South Pole, Mom. Some of those devices come straight from the novel, which was written in an epistolary format, its story pieced together from letters, emails and other documents. NELSON: (As Bee Branch) No, the only place tourists go is the Antarctic Peninsula. Bee, played by a winning newcomer named Emma Nelson, is plucky and smart, and she's managed to talk her parents into going on a family vacation to Antarctica before she departs for an elite boarding school. Particularly the two homes Bernadette designed—the Beeber Bifocal and the 20 Mile House. “She was very into upcycling.”. Bernadette would probably be considered one in another story, but she seems positively laid back compared to Audrey. Bernadette can be acerbic, tender, charming and maddening, sometimes all at once, and it's both funny and painful to watch Blanchett strip away the character's psychological defenses, layer by fragile layer. The second was her famed “20 Mile House,” built entirely from resources within just 20 miles of the site. Situated “We looked at all the modernist furniture makers, woodworking, even down to folk art and treatments. For Terry Gross, I'm David Bianculli. And in some ways, it feels like a lark for Linklater, a zippy, lightweight diversion compared with the more audacious, dramatic experiments of "Boyhood" and the romantic trilogy that began with "Before Sunrise." Adapting Maria Semple ’s 2012 wild, reckless bestseller seems like a logical next step on that turbulent maternal highway, given that it told the story of an architect named Bernadette Fox. The film’s action kicks off when Bernadette mysteriously vanishes with few — if any — clues as to where she might have gone or why she left. "You are getting sleepy, when you wake up you will want to live only in a Craftsman house, the year won't matter to you, all that will matter is that the walls will be thick, the windows tiny, the rooms dark, the ceilings low, and it will be poorly situated on the lot.” ― Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette We pulled from the entire art world.” To tie it all together, the team took cues from Eileen Gray, Zaha Hadid, Denise Brown, and Neri Oxman. Bee is choreographing an elephant-themed dance for a first grade performance, and Bernadette is eager to attend. Roberta Shorrock directs the show. The gorgeous polar scenery becomes a chilly backdrop for one of the sweetest movie endings I've seen this year. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE?"). Much beautifully controlled chaos ensues. (SOUNDBITE OF DAVE HOLLAND AND PEPE HABICHUELA'S "JOYRIDE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. But it also takes on a more literal meaning when she escapes an intervention that her husband, concerned about her increasingly erratic behavior, has arranged. (SOUNDBITE OF DAVE HOLLAND AND PEPE HABICHUELA'S "JOYRIDE"). Who’s fault was it that the 20 mile house was destroyed? Materials … Hope you can join us. “Bernadette worked with what she had,” says Curtis. She may be a misanthrope, but she's a misanthrope you can't help but love, whether she's launching into one anguished verbal aria after another or dictating lengthy, punctuation-free emails to her virtual personal assistant. But all is not well with Bernadette, who loves her family, but can't stand anyone else. The first “miracle” was Bernadette’s first eye-catching house, decorated largely with bifocal glasses. In addition to her anti-social streak, Bernadette suffers severe anxiety attacks and may or may not be hooked on prescription meds. In addition to her antisocial streak, Bernadette suffers severe anxiety attacks and may or may not be hooked on prescription meds. Paul Jellinak brought up the point that Bernadette only created 2 houses and both were for herself. The movie is more conventionally constructed. Blanchett gives a splendidly mercurial performance. Spoiler alert: Bernadette and her future husband start off living in a glasses factory that she repurposed. Starting with an empty lot, Fox declared to her collaborators and her contractors that no materials should be sourced from locations farther than 20 miles away. 9. All rights reserved. Notably, this is the first Linklater movie to feature a solo female lead, and Bernadette instantly emerges as one of the most vibrant and complex characters in the director's filmography. Because of this previous promise, Bee convinces her parents, stay at home mother Bernadette, and father Elgin, a genius who works a… section, the affected environment study area is defined as those areas within 1 mile of the SERC and 0.25 mile of related linear facilities (Title 20, California Code of Regulations [CCR], Appendix B). EMMA NELSON: (As Bee Branch) See, Mom? The Beeber Bifocal House and the 20 Mile House both represent her aesthetic to a tee. It's not going to stop me taking you to the South Pole. First, “she was on the forefront of really upcycling and being green,” he says. During the YouTube video of Bernadette's architectural career, the narrator incorrectly says the name of … Interesting? It's at this moment in the car that an impromptu Cyndi Lauper singalong breaks out, and Bernadette starts to choke up. “Our style became Bernadette’s style. Twenty Mile House is a stunning & secluded premier eco-estate in the heart of the spectacular Sierra Nevada mountains. Bee, played by a winning newcomer named Emma Nelson, is plucky and smart, and she has managed to talk her parents into going on a family vacation to Antarctica before she departs for an elite boarding school. Bernadette is a brilliant, legendary architect who once designed an eco-friendly modernist home built completely from materials sourced within a 20-mile radius. We see just how vulnerable Bernadette can be in one scene, when she's driving her daughter home through a rainstorm. The third act sends the characters through a whirlwind of farcical twists and emotional reckonings, but it also becomes a genuinely stirring tribute to a woman rediscovering her true calling in the unlikeliest place imaginable. She has a new book. Next, she built Twenty Mile House, a pavilion-style home in Los Angeles composed entirely of materials recovered or manufactured within a 20-mile radius of the site. As the wayward title character in Where’d You Go, Bernadette, based on the 2012 novel by Maria Semple, Cate Blanchett might as well be playing one of the questing teen philosophers from Linklater’s early films, all grown up and chafing at the bonds of an unwanted domestic life. Now Bernadette lives in Seattle, in an enormous ramshackle house with her husband Elgie and their teenage daughter Bee. WILL EVER MAKE!”. The director also has an instinctive affection for artists, and you can feel his sympathy and his respect for Bernadette surging through every scene. But that was two decades ago, before she hit a major slump, and she hasn't designed anything since. To see more, visit. The 20 Mile House is Bernadette’s crowning glory—a modern abode she constructed in Los Angeles using only materials found within a 20-mile radius from the site. The former is a house she created inside an abandoned glasses factory, using discarded frames, lenses, and catalogs for decor, which Curtis and his team brought to life on a set. Bee traces the incident back to her perfect report card. Some of those devices come straight from the novel, which was written in an epistolary format, it's story pieced together from letters, emails and other documents. The Twenty Mile House is up in the hills, near Runyon Canyon. Bernadette decides everything in the house will come from within 20 miles of the site. Before Bernadette’s full backstory is revealed, viewers get more glimpses of her appreciation for good design—such as when she is at the pharmacy and points out the Chihuly chandelier overhead.