The City of Your Final Destination

The City of Your Final Destination
Promotional poster
Directed by	James Ivory
Produced by	Paul Bradley Pierre Proner
Written by	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Based on	The City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Laura Linney Charlotte Gainsbourg Hiroyuki Sanada Omar Metwally Hiroyuki Sanada Alexandra Maria Lara
Music by	Jorge Drexler
Cinematography	Javier Aguirresarobe Pierre Mignot (Montréal)
Editing by	John David Allen
Studio	Hyde Park International A Merchan Ivory Film
Distributed by	Screen Media Films
Release date(s)	February 7, 2009 (2009-02-07) (European Film Market) April 16, 2010 (2010-04-16) (United States)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The City of Your Final Destination is a novel by American writer Peter Cameron. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Uruguay. However, the Uruguay of the novel bears little relation to the geography or culture of the real country. The novel's beginning and ending chapters taking place in Lawrence, Kansas, where the protagonist is a graduate student at the University of Kansas.

In 2007 Merchant Ivory Productions produced a film based on the book, directed by James Ivory with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala.

Film adaptation

It had an early preview in New York City on November 27, 2007 (at the ceremony of the Trophée des Arts for James Ivory from the French Institute New York).In October 2009, James Ivory brought the film to Rome, where it received its official world premiere at the International Rome Film Festival, out of competition, then showing at Tokyo International Film Festival for Hiroyuki Sanada's special screening. Screen Media will distribute in the United States, with release scheduled for April 16, 2010.

The City of Your Final Destination is the first Merchant Ivory film without producer Ismail Merchant and composer Richard Robbins.

Plot

The film follows a graduate student, Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally), who wishes to write a biography on an obscure writer, Jules Gund, who died years before. He must travel to Uruguay to persuade the Gund family to authorize the biography.

Cast

(in order of appearance)

• Nicholas Blandullo as Young Adam
• Sofia Viruboff as Adam's Mother
• James Martin as Postman
• Omar Metwally as Omar Razaghi
• Alexandra Maria Lara as Deirdre Rothemund
• Susana Salerno, César Bordón, Diego Velázquez, Rossana Gabbiano as Helpful People at the Bus Depot
• Julieta Vallina as Schoolbus Lady
• Ambar Mallman as Portia Gund
• Charlotte Gainsbourg as Arden Langdon
• Laura Linney as Caroline Gund
• Norma Argentina as Alma
• Hector Fonseca as Old Gaucho
• Anthony Hopkins as Adam Gund
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Pete
• Oscar Rolleri as Young Gaucho
• Norma Aleandro as Mrs. Van Euwen
• Arturo Goetz, Marcos Montes, Sophie Tirouflet as Mrs. Van Euwen's Guests
• Luciano Suardi as Doctor Pereira
• Carlos Torres as Barber
• Pietro Gian as Taxi Driver
• Julia Perez as Nurse
• Yuri Vergeichikov as Luis, the Driver
• Agustín Pereyra Lucena as Guitarist
• Pablo Druker as Conductor
• Eliot Mathews as Deirdre's Escort
• Andrew Sanders as Caroline's Escort

Music List

• "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" (from "Orphée et Eurydice")
  Performed by Anthony Roth Costanzo
  Composer Christoph Willibald Gluck
• "Venetian Medley"
  Composed and performed by Anthony Hopkins
• "Dos Palomitas"
  Performed by Charlotte Gainsbourg & Ambar Mallman
  Traditional popular song from Argentina
• "The Merry Widow, Second Act: No.7 Introduction. Tanz und Vilja-Lied"
  Performed by Cheryl Studer and Chorus
  Composer Franz Lehár
  Deutsche Grammophon
• "Sonata for violin and piano (1943), Intermezzo. Tres lent et calme"
  Performed by The Nash Ensemble
  Composer Francis Poulenc
  Hyperion Records
• "Sambaden"
  Artist/Composer Agustín Pereyra Lucena
• "Sonatine"
  Performed by Charlotte Gainbourg & Ambar Mallmann
  Composer G. Turk
  Arranged by Cecilia V. Gonzalez
• "Bastien and Bastienne"
  Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra
  Raymond Leppard, director
  Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Sony Classical
• "'El museo de las distancias rotas'" (end title 1)
  Composed for this film and performed by Jorge Drexler
  Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell
• "'La bruna del ayer'" (end title 2)
  Composed for this film and performed by Jorge Drexler
  Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell

Controversy

In early 2007, Anthony Hopkins claimed he had yet to be paid for his work on the film, and that Merchant Ivory had short-changed the cast and crew.^[1] Merchant Ivory counter-argued that Hopkins' payment terms had in fact recently been renegotiated higher. Later in the year, the actor filed court papers to take the company to an arbitrator. In October 2007, Hopkins filed a lawsuit against Merchant Ivory for payment of his salary of $750,000.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Merchant Ivory Denies Hopkins Non-Payment Claims". PR Inside. April 5, 2007. http://www.pr-inside.com/merchant-ivory-deny-hopkins-non-payment-claims-r86026.htm. 
2. ^ "People: Ellen DeGeneres, Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep" – Associated Press – (c/o International Herald Tribune) – October 18, 2007

External links

• Peter Cameron
• Official website
• The City of Your Final Destination at the Internet Movie Database
• Merchant Ivory Productions
• Screen Media Films
• The Molecule (Clips)
• Roma Cinema Festival
• The World of Sanada Hiroyuki (Tokyo Internaional Film Festival)