"Like all Merchant/Ivory films, The City of Your Final Destination quietly shimmers. Not much happens in the film's two hours, just the subtleties of a group of thoughtful, interesting grown-ups: a mind changed, a relationship run aground, a complex history delicately hinted at. Listen to how Linney, invited to go visit a local sight, says "I've been there" in a wry tone that turns three words into a novel." Moira MacDonald SEATTLE TIMES "A talky melodrama, and some of the dialogue is oddly stiff. But it's a pleasure to watch great actors dig into this literary material, and the movie looks sunny and spectacular. Ivory collides with Chekhov; it's a tender bender." Chris Hewitt ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS "The cinematography is truly beautiful, and though it paints a highly romanticised portrait of expatriate life in the poor rural heartlands of Latin America, it is a warm and cosy marvel to behold as it luxuriates on the lush setting and the vivid details of the sets and costumes." Anders Wotzke CUT PRINT REVIEW "A sophisticated drama about love and literary matters skillfully and sensitively directed by James Ivory. The unhurried pace suits the story well, and the screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala conveys the nuances in the negotiations between these three misfits who are all likeable in their own odd ways. The performances are across the board superb." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE "The languor of northern Paraguay with an assortment of characters who all come from somewhere else but are more than expats, and the silken strings that connect them to the rest of the world, are elements that combine to create a rich and engaging film from one of cinema's grand masters. James Ivory" Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

"There's no dramatic mainspring to the story, but the civilized dialogue is refreshing, the South American locations are lovely and Jorge Drexler's score is rapturously romantic. An exquisite trifle. James Ivory returns to the mood of "A Room With a View" in this languid literary romance." Colin Covert MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE "Although its setting is contemporary, this “City” feels as much a period piece as any of Merchant Ivory’s signature films, richly decorated with a lush soundtrack of trilling birds and buzzing insects; one can fairly smell the sticky perspiration that coats the characters’ skin as they trek through humid seaside wilderness. The City of Your Final Destination is a fine, familiar addition to the Merchant Ivory oeuvre." Annlee Ellingson MOVING PICTURES MAGAZINE "Quiet, deliberate and understated in its humor and romance, 'City' is a subtle, polished story that is, in the parlance, 'character-driven'. There’s not a whole lot of plot: but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot going on. Ivory’s film has an autumnal feel, but also a surprisingly jolly, if understated, wit. There is, one hopes, still room for a film as charming and layered as this one." Marshall Fine HOLLYWOOD & FINE "Fate, chance and literature are the signposts of this richly textured drama in which people not purpose beckon and where time is not a precious commodity. With all the cinematic trademarks of a James Ivory film, this adaptation of Peter Cameron's novel seduces us slowly, as we get to know the characters whose lives are intertwined for better and for worse. It is the incongruence of the characters and how their relationships develop and change that is fascinating. The film's constantly moving tempo is like being on an emotional escalator which constantly takes us to different levels. This is a beautiful film for those who are interested in matters of the heart." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

The Inside Story The City of Your Final Destination will be director James Ivory’s 24th collaboration with two ime Academy ® Award winning screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala ("A Room with a View" & " Howards End") and is based on the 2002 novel of the same name by American Library Association Award winning author Peter Cameron. "The City of Your Final Destination" is a finely-tuned comedy of modern manners from which emerges that rarest of things: a film romance that is actually romantic; it is, to quote The New York Times review of Cameron’s novel, a "pungent, airy, grave, and transporting commedia dell’arte [that] subtly, affectingly, erotically traces the beginning, the hesitations, the advances of a love affair." How we fall in love, how we find a home, and how we come to know, or change, ourselves are all questions that "The City of Your Final Destination" deftly explores in this warm and engaging work. James Ivory was born in Berkeley, California. After attending the University of Oregon, where he majored in Architecture and Fine Arts, he received his Master’s degree in Film from the University of Southern California. His first film, which he wrote, photographed and produced, was Venice: "Theme and Variations", a half-hour documentary made as his thesis for his Master’s degree. The New York Times named Ivory’s evocation of the city in 1957 as one of the ten best non-theatrical films of the year. An easy rapport with India was evidenced in Ivory’s second film "The Sword and the Flute", based entirely on Indian miniature paintings in American collections. Its success led to a grant by the Asia Society of New York to make "The Delhi Way", a film about the Indian capital city. In 1961, Ivory teamed up with Ismail Merchant to form Merchant Ivory Productions. Their first theatrical feature was "The Householder", based on an early novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who also wrote the screenplay. Since then, Ivory’s feature and television filmmaking career has taken him to Great Britain, France, Italy, back to India several times, to China, to South America and to the United States. The many theatrical films that Ivory has made for Merchant Ivory Productions include the classic Shakespeare "Wallah"; three Henry James productions("The Europeans", "The Bostonians", and "The Golden Bowl"); "Heat and Dust", from a novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, and "A Room With A View", "Maurice", and "Howards End" from novels by E. M. Forster. "A Room With A View" (nominated for eight Academy Awards) won for Jhabvala’s adaptation of Forster’s novel, Best Costume, and Best Production Design. "A Room With A View" was also voted Best Film of 1986 by the Critic’s Circle Film Section of Great Britain, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and the National Board of Review in the United States. The film also received the Donatello Prize for Best Foreign Language Picture and Best Director in Italy. Ivory’s next film, "Maurice", received a Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival as well as Best Film Score for Richard Robbins and Best Actor Awards for co-stars James Wilby and Hugh Grant. Ivory returned to the United States to film "Slaves of New York", based on the best-seller by Tama Janowitz and "Mr & Mrs Bridge", starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, which Ruth Prawer Jhabvala adapted from the novels Mr Bridge and Mrs Bridge by Evan S Connell. Ivory’s next project was "Howards End" which was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won for Best Actress (Emma Thompson), Best Screenplay Adaptation (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala), and Best Art Direction/Set Direction (Luciana Arrighi/Ian Whittaker). The film also won Best Picture at the BAFTA Awards, as well as awards for Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Thompson) and Best Director (James Ivory) from the National Board of Review. "The Remains of the Day" followed Howards End. It reunited Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in the starring roles of the butler Stevens and his housekeeper Miss Kenton. This film, too, received eight Oscar nominations and was chosen “Film of the Year” by the British Film Critics Society. "Jefferson in Paris", starring Nick Nolte, Greta Scacchi, Thandie Newton, and Simon Callow, was Ivory’s next project and was released in 1995. During that same year, the Directors Guild of America awarded the D.W. Griffith Lifetime Achievement award, its highest honor, to Ivory for his body of work. "Surviving Picasso", starring Anthony Hopkins as Picasso, Natascha McElhone as Francoise Gilot and Julianne Moore as Dora Maar, followed "Jefferson in Pari"s in 1996. "A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries" followed in 1998. "The Golden Bowl", starring Nick Nolte, Uma Thurman and Anjelica Huston, was released in 2001. That same year James Ivory, Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala received the Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television, one of the highest awards in film. In 2003 Merchant Ivory Productions released "Le Divorce" from the best-selling novel by Diane Johnson which was adapted for the screen by James Ivory and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. 2005 saw the release of Ivory’s final collaboration with the late Ismail Merchant "The White Countess" based on an original screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Peter Cameron (Described as "without question one of the finest contemporary American gay writers) is the author of five novels and three collections of short stories. He has published fiction in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and several volumes of the annual "O". Henry collection of Best Short Stories. His first novel, "Leap Year", was written as a serial novel for the New York City magazine 7 Days, appearing a chapter each week during the year of 1988. It was followed by "The Weekend" in 1994 (which was made into a film produced by Granada and starring Gena Rowlands, Brooke Shields, Jared Harris and Deborah Kara Unger in 1999), "Andorra in 1997", "The City of Your Final Destination" in 2001, and "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" in 2007. "The City of Your Final Destination" was a finalist for both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" won the Ferro-Grumley Prize in 2008. Richard Eder concluded his rave New York Times review of "The City of Your Final Destination" by exclaiming, "Yet, as in a film: and what a film!; other elements are intrinsic: settings (the tempered languor of the northern Uruguyan countryside and the harshness of Kansas), pace and rhythm (those jump-cut encounters), lighting and even costumes." The Los Angeles Times review declared that "The City of Your Final Destination" read like "a cross between a West End Edwardian play and a Merchant-Ivory production." In addition to fiction, Cameron has written screenplays for "Andorra" (a USA-French co-production with Ovie Entertainment Amazing Digital Studios) and "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" (Jean Vigo Productions, Italy). His first play, "A Thing of the Past" was read at Lincoln Center Theater. The reading featured Marian Seldes and Estelle Parsons and was directed by Craig Lucas. Cameron has taught fiction writing at Yale, Columbia, and Sarah Lawrence College. He lives in New York City, and is working on a new novel, "The End of My Life in New York", which FSG will publish in 2010. Sir Anthony Hopkins (he was knighted in the 1993 New Year Honors List) received an Academy ® Award for his performance in "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), and was subsequently nominated in the same category for his performances in Merchant Ivory’s "The Remains of the Day" (1993) and Oliver Stone’s "Nixon" (1995). He received the Best Actor Award by the British Academy of Film & Television Arts for "The Remains of the Day". In 1993, he starred in Richard Attenborough’s "Shadowlands" with Debra Winger, winning numerous critics awards in the U.S. and Britain. In 1998, he was nominated for an Academy ® Award as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Amistad". In 2001, Hopkins starred in the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs", "Hannibal". Directed by Sir Ridley Scott, the blockbuster film grossed over $100 million domestically. He also recorded the narration for the 2000 holiday season’s hit film "Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas". In 1998, Hopkins starred in "Meet Joe Black", directed by Martin Brest and co-starring Brad Pitt, "Instinct" directed by Jon Turletaub and in "Titus", Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s "Titus Andronicus" with Jessica Lange. Hopkins also appeared in the feature adaptation of Stephen King’s "Hearts In Atlantis" for director Scott Hicks, the action comedy "Bad Company", co-starring Chris Rock, and the box-office hit prequel to "Silence of the Lambs", "Red Dragon", co-starring Ed Norton, Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watkins. He also starred in Miramax Films’ adaptation of the Phillip Roth novel The "Human Stain", opposite Nicole Kidman, directed by Robert Benton. He also starred in "Proof", opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and "The World’s Fastest Indian". Most recently he appeared in "The Wolfman". 2008 was a year to remember for Laura Linney. She received an Academy Award nomination in the lead actress category for her role in the box office hit, "The Savages" and also starred in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries John Adams, for which she won an Emmy Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe. Additionally, Laura wrapped filming on the James Ivory film, "The City of Your Final Destination", and "Sympathy for Delicious" with Orlando Bloom and Mark Ruffalo. She also starred for director Richard Eyre with Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas in the enthralling adult drama "The Other Man". Her large list of credits includes: "The Truman Show", "The House of Mirth", "Lorenzo’s Oil", "Dave", "Searching for Bobby Fischer", "A Simple Twist of Fate", "The Mothman Prophecies", "The Life of David Gale", "PS", "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", "Jindabyne", "Mystic River" and Kinsey". One of the most compelling French actresses of her generation, Charlotte Gainsbourg initially made her screen name parlaying wayward adolescence into an understated art form. Tall, long-necked, and elegantly gawky, Gainsbourg first impressed critics and audiences with her portrayal of the naive but rebellious protagonist of "L'Effrontée" (1985), earning a César for Most Promising Young Actress. The daughter of French singer/songwriter/occasional actor and director Serge Gainsbourg and English actress Jane Birkin, Gainsbourg was born into substantial celebrity in London on July 22nd 1971. She made her film debut playing Catherine Deneuve's daughter in the "Paroles et Musique" (1984). Omar Metwally was born in New York and raised in California. He trained at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco before making his film debut alongside Eric Bana in Steven Spielberg’s "Munich". In 2008 he would received the Cannes Film Festival's 2008 Chopard Trophy for his work in "Rendition". What It's All About

Twenty eight year old Kansas University doctoral student Omar Razaghi has been awarded a grant to write the biography of Latin American writer Jules Gund. When Gund’s estate unexpectedly denies him authorisation, Omar is urged by his girlfriend Deirdre, to travel to Uruguay and petition the executor to change their minds. The Gund 'family', living together on the author’s isolated and decaying estate, includes Gund’s widow Caroline, his mistress Arden, her young daughter Portia, Gund’s brother Adam and his partner, Peter. Omar’s unannounced arrival upsets their fragile co-existence and causes all to question their own circumstances, which in turn leads Omar himself to question to what degree, if any; he has been the author of his own existence up until now. Despite his doubts, Omar soon becomes accepted by Adam and Arden. While the three surviving 'family' members argue as whether or not to allow an official biography, Omar finds himself being drawn-in by both the exotic location and the beautiful Arden.

The Verdict "Those who love a film filled with interesting characters, an intriuging storyline that raises your curiosity level, set in an exotic location (South America) with a distinct hint of a slow-burning romance should find solace in the languor of James Ivory's latest film, "The City Of Your Final Destination". Adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Ruth Prawer Jhabvala from acclaimed New York author Peter Cameron's book of the same name, 'Destination' is not one for the hurried traveller. The mood of Ivory's 24th collaboration with Jhabvala is the opposite of what most of us generally complain so often about in the modern society. 'Destination' is soft, laid-back and unhurried: a film you allow yourself to be absorbed into. Imagine a babbling brook on a sunny day, dancing over polished stones in its creekbed. The reflected splashes of sunlight dancing on its surface represent the main players in this story who, thanks to some wicked dialogue, truly sparkle ( especially Hopkins in the first scenes in Uruguay when Omar meets Adam). The darker seemingly slower waters near its banks represent the pace of the film. To the eye, the perception is that there's not much movement here, but below the surface there's a strong under-current at work, as there is in Ivory's film. To be perfectly honest, 'Destination' will prove to be a waste of time for those who aren't prepared to 'go with the flow'. It's not the grandest of films from the famed Merchant Ivory stable, but it's certainly entertaining and, if you've heeded the warnings, a worthwhile and pleasurable experience, thanks in the main to Linney and Hopkins. 3 1/2 STARS." Who's Who?

Anthony Hopkins Hiroyuki Sanada Charlotte Gainsbourg Laura Linney Omar Metwally Alexandra Maria Lara Ambar Mallman Norma Aleandro Norma Argentina Eliot Mathews

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Adam Pete Arden Langdon Caroline Omar Razaghi Deirdre Portia Mrs Van Euwen Alma Deirdre's Escort

The Production Team Directed by James Ivory Screenplay Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Based on the novel by Peter Cameron Produced by Paul Bradley & Pierre Proner Original Music by Jorge Drexler Cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe Film Editing by John David Allen Production Design by Andrew Sanders Art Direction by Graciela Coca Oderigo & Colin Thurston Set Decoration by Fernando Brun Costume Design by Carol Ramsey Run Time 118 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2010 - Potential Films - All Rights Reserved ©1999-2010 The Movie Pages & impact Internet Services. All Rights Reserved. Protected by Australian and International Copyright. Trademark Laws and Intellectual Property Rights apply.