The City of Your Final Destination
Encyclopedia
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
.
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.
), 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.
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.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer Peter Cameron
Peter Cameron (US writer)
Peter Cameron is an American novelist and writer living in New York, NY. He is best known for his novels Andorra, The Weekend and The City of Your Final Destination.-Biography:...
. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. 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
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, where the protagonist is a graduate student at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
.
In 2007 Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, with the noted exception of a few films. The films were often...
produced a film based on the book, directed by James Ivory
James Ivory (director)
James Francis Ivory is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, CBE is a Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer, and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is perhaps best known for her long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, made up of director James Ivory and the late producer Ismail Merchant...
.
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 FestivalTokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...
for Hiroyuki Sanada
Hiroyuki Sanada
is a Japanese actor.-Life and career:Sanada was born in Tokyo. Originally aiming to be an action star, starting with shorinji kempo, he eventually took up Kyokushin kaikan Sanada began training at age 11 with actor and martial arts star Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club where he developed good...
'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
Merchant Ivory Productions
Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory. Their films were for the most part produced by the former, directed by the latter, and scripted by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, with the noted exception of a few films. The films were often...
film without producer Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant
Ismail Merchant was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala...
and composer Richard Robbins.
Plot
The film follows a graduate student, Omar Razaghi (Omar MetwallyOmar Metwally
Omar Metwally is an American actor.Metwally was born in Queens, New York to an Egyptian father and a Dutch mother, and moved with the family to Orange County, California at age three where he was raised...
), who wishes to write a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
on an obscure writer, Jules Gund, who died years before. He must travel to Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
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 MartinJames Martin-Actors, musicians, and other performers:*James Martin , saxophonist, singer, and record producer*James Martin , actor on EastEnders*James Martin , actor on Still Game...
as Postman - Omar MetwallyOmar MetwallyOmar Metwally is an American actor.Metwally was born in Queens, New York to an Egyptian father and a Dutch mother, and moved with the family to Orange County, California at age three where he was raised...
as Omar Razaghi - Alexandra Maria LaraAlexandra Maria LaraAlexandra Maria Lara is a Romanian-born German actress. She performs predominantly in leading roles in a variety of historical and crime films...
as Deirdre Rothemund - Susana Salerno, César Bordón, Diego VelázquezDiego VelázquezDiego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
, Rossana Gabbiano as Helpful People at the Bus Depot - Julieta Vallina as Schoolbus Lady
- Ambar Mallman as Portia Gund
- Charlotte GainsbourgCharlotte GainsbourgCharlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
as Arden Langdon - Laura LinneyLaura LinneyLaura Leggett Linney is an American actress of film, television, and theatre. Linney has won three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has been nominated for three times for an Academy Award and once for a BAFTA Award...
as Caroline Gund - Norma ArgentinaNorma ArgentinaNorma Argentina is a film actress.She works in the cinema of Argentina.-Filmography:* Cama Adentro aka Live-In Maid* El Buen destino * Tupac, el grito...
as Alma - Hector Fonseca as Old Gaucho
- Anthony HopkinsAnthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
as Adam Gund - Hiroyuki SanadaHiroyuki Sanadais a Japanese actor.-Life and career:Sanada was born in Tokyo. Originally aiming to be an action star, starting with shorinji kempo, he eventually took up Kyokushin kaikan Sanada began training at age 11 with actor and martial arts star Sonny Chiba's Japan Action Club where he developed good...
as Pete - Oscar Rolleri as Young Gaucho
- Norma AleandroNorma AleandroNorma Aleandro Robledo is an Argentine actress and screenwriter, born in Buenos Aires to Pedro Aleandro and María Luisa Robledo, both actors. Her sister, María Vaner, was a famous actress in Argentina.- Life and career :...
as Mrs. Van Euwen - Arturo GoetzArturo GoetzArturo Goetz , is an Argentine film actor.He works in the cinema of Argentina.He studied for a D.Phil. in Economics at Jesus College, Oxford from 1971 to 1974, but left without completing his studies when his scholarship ran out. Whilst at Jesus College, he played football for the college team and...
, 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 PerezJulia PerezYuli Rachmawati, also known as Julia Perez or Jupe is an Indonesian actress, dangdut singer, model and announcer and political candidate. She has been dubbed "sex bomb" because of her sexy performances....
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 GluckChristoph Willibald GluckChristoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years... - "Venetian Medley"
Composed and performed by Anthony HopkinsAnthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television... - "Dos Palomitas"
Performed by Charlotte GainsbourgCharlotte GainsbourgCharlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
& Ambar Mallman
Traditional popular song from Argentina - "The Merry WidowThe Merry WidowThe Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
, Second Act: No.7 Introduction. Tanz und Vilja-Lied"
Performed by Cheryl StuderCheryl StuderCheryl Studer is a Grammy Award winning American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's major opera houses. A singer with unusual versatility, Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and...
and ChorusMonteverdi ChoirThe Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the early...
Composer Franz LehárFranz LehárFranz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label... - "Sonata for violin and piano (1943), Intermezzo. Tres lent et calme"
Performed by The Nash Ensemble
Composer Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
Hyperion RecordsHyperion RecordsHyperion Records is an independent British classical record label.-History:The company was named after Hyperion, one of the Titans of Greek mythology. It was founded by George Edward Perry, widely known as "Ted", in 1980. Early LP releases included rarely recorded 20th century British music by... - "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 OrchestraFranz Liszt Chamber OrchestraThe Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra based in Budapest, Hungary.The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra took the name of the great composer, to pay homage to the genius who became inseparable with the establishment of Hungarian music and whose spirit irradiates the musical life of...
Raymond LeppardRaymond LeppardRaymond "Def" Leppard, CBE is a British conductor and harpsichordist.He was born in London and grew up in Bath, where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys' School, now known as the Beechen Cliff School...
, director
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
Sony Classical - "'El museo de las distancias rotas'" (end title 1)
Composed for this film and performed by Jorge DrexlerJorge DrexlerJorge Drexler is an Uruguayan musician and actor.In 2004 Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan ever to win an Academy Award...
Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell - "'La bruna del ayer'" (end title 2)
Composed for this film and performed by Jorge DrexlerJorge DrexlerJorge Drexler is an Uruguayan musician and actor.In 2004 Drexler won wide acclaim after becoming the first Uruguayan ever to win an Academy Award...
Ediciones SEA / Warner Chappell
Controversy
In early 2007, Anthony HopkinsAnthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
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.