Caroline (Laura Linney) would rather keep her past preserved in The City of Your Final Destination.
Ivory coasting
By Miranda Inganni
In director James Ivory’s film The City of Your Final Destination, 28-year-old Kansas University doctoral student Omar Razaghi (Omar Metwally) takes a last-minute trip to Uruguay in order to make a last-minute plea to the family of deceased writer Jules Gund in hopes of writing a biography of Gund and thereby staying at the University of Colorado.
After initially being given the go ahead by Gund’s family, their decision is reversed. Omar’s persistently persuasive girlfriend, Deirdre (the comely Alexandra Maria Lara), convinces him to make the pilgrimage to the family’s estate in Uruguay. As he is making his way to the estate, Omar meets Jules’ young daughter, Portia (Ambar Mallman) who is quick to welcome him. Not quite as friendly is Jules’ prickly wife, Caroline (Laura Linney) who barely puts up with his unexpected presence.
Where Caroline is off-putting, Jules’ much younger mistress, Arden (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the mother of his only child, is quite the opposite. She invites Omar to stay and takes to him quickly. The more Omar isn’t trying to get Jules’ surviving family members on his side, the more he gets busy trying to get inside Arden.
Equally helpful, but for entirely different and self-serving reasons, is Jules’ brother, Adam (Anthony Hopkins), and his partner, Pete (Hiroyuki Sanada). Adam and Jules grew up on the estate and Adam seems to relish regaling their guest with tales from their childhood. Indeed, he even shows old home movies of their parents in Venice and invites Omar to visit the gondola they brought to Uruguay with them. (Interestingly, the footage is from James Ivory’s first film, a 30 minute documentary from 1957 entitled Venice: Theme and Variations.) The delicate though uncomfortable balance between brother, wife, mistress, lover and daughter is tried, tested and tempted by Omar’s presence.
Adapted from the titular novel by Peter Cameron, The City of Your Final Destination questions what is love and what is considered a home. While there are moments of sweetness and comedic stiff manners, this Merchant Ivory film is basically unassuming and unaffecting.
