The City of Your Final Destination


The City of Your Final Destination is a 2009 American drama film directed by James Ivory and starring, Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Omar Metwally and Norma Aleandro. It was written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and based on the eponymous novel by Peter Cameron.
The film is the first Merchant Ivory film without producer Ismail Merchant and composer Richard Robbins.

Synopsis

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

Setting

Most of the story in the novel takes place in a small town in Uruguay. The novel's beginning chapter takes place in Lawrence, Kansas, where the protagonist is a graduate student at the University of Kansas. The story ends at New York City Opera Hall.

Cast


The cast had the participation of local actors and citizens who officiated as extras.

Production

Locations

Most of the filming took place in two ranches located in the coastal area of the Punta Indio district, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some scenes were filmed in the district's head city, Veronica.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains the following music:
Performed by Anthony Roth Costanzo
Composer Christoph Willibald Gluck
Composed and performed by Anthony Hopkins
Performed by Charlotte Gainsbourg & Ambar Mallman
Traditional popular song from Argentina
Performed by Cheryl Studer and Chorus
Composer Franz Lehár
Deutsche Grammophon
Performed by The Nash Ensemble
Composer Francis Poulenc
Hyperion Records
Artist/Composer Agustín Pereyra Lucena
Performed by Charlotte Gainbourg & Ambar Mallmann
Composer G. Turk
Arranged by Cecilia V. Gonzalez
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra
Raymond Leppard, director
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sony Classical
Composed for this film and performed by Jorge Drexler
Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell
Composed for this film and performed by Jorge Drexler
Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell

Release

It had an early preview in New York City on November 27, 2007. 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 distributed it in the United States on April 16, 2010.

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 56 reviews, and an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A stellar cast can't elevate this leaden adaptation that, while just as beautiful as anything director James Ivory's made before, comes off as dusty and dry." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

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. 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.
In 2008, actress and singer Susan Malick also filed suit against Merchant Ivory and James Ivory for producer credit and half a million dollars in an unpaid loan, used when the film was threatened to be shut down due to lack of funding. In 2012 Malick moved for trial by jury and the suit was finally settled out of court.