Mit Herz und Hand

I saw this film on a plane - I know, I know, the worst place to see any kind of film - and thought I would just fall asleep as I didn't expect it to catch my interest enough to put up with the bad audio and small screens. In any case I dislike feel-good movies, and all the Kiwi-innovator stuff makes me cringe, Kiwis don't have the monopoly on being resourceful. And I'd never heard of Burt Munro. So I was surprised to find within a few minutes I was entranced.

Anthony Hopkins has made a brilliant job of the role, his accent wasn't too bad, and I loved the way he said "Invercarrrrrrgill". Hopkins' talent really shone - without him saying a word or changing his expression, you just knew how Burt felt when confronted by an apparently insurmountable obstacle (I won't spoil it) and his placid acceptance of the inevitable falls, tumbles and injuries told you that for Burt these were a fact of life. The other cast were also flawless, for me there wasn't a weak point in any of the acting. The humour was delivered in the main by Hopkins and with the lightest possible touch. The cinematography was beautiful and conveyed the journey from long quiet light of Munro's idealism in Invercargill, murky 'orribleness of the necessary evil of passing through LA and laying your dream on the line in the harsh open glare of Utah.

Hopkins has done a few of these slightly-disreputable, love-em-when-you-get-to-know-em characters but this is the best. And I'm not a motorcycle fan, and no Kiwi-made-good fan, but I will confess to a tear (almost) at the end when the text came up about Burt's unbeaten record.

If you watch this film at home you won't want to be disturbed by other people talking - you'll want to catch every word, every nuance.

Seeing the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" reminded me why I go see movies. I average about one every two weeks, and this was one of those rare movies that actually made me feel *happy* afterward.

The main character, New Zealander Bill Munroe as played by Anthony Hopkins, is a true man's man. He has spent his entire adult life tinkering with his streamlined motorcycle, a 1920 Indian (hence the title.) Now in his 60's in the year 1963, he wants to realize his life's dream of taking it halfway around the world to the Bonneville Salt Flats Test Track in Utah, the only place where he can find out how fast it will actually go.

The movie pulls off two often-used themes, The Long Journey and Overcoming Adversity, without a hint of phoniness or melodrama. The Long Journey from New Zealand to Utah takes up most of the movie, with Munroe scrounging up travel money, working off part of his passage on a dilapidated freighter, and the long, event-filled drive from the California coast to Utah in an old used car. Overcoming Adversity is portrayed in two ways: by Munroe's awesome mechanical genius as shown by his ability to fashion spare parts out of almost anything and to improvise a la MacGyver, and in his charm and likability when confronted with more human obstacles. Indeed, one of the movie's chief strengths was the character's ability to make friends easily under any situation, with a cast of colorful supporting characters who wonderfully complemented Hopkins' acting.

After finally reaching the test track, the movie's focus shifts from the acting to the cinematography and drama. The dozens of colorful cars, motorcycles, and drivers' outfits contrast strikingly with the blinding white of the salt flats and the mountainous backdrop. And when Munroe finally gets the chance to make his test run, two questions come to mind. How fast can he go? More importantly, will the 64-year-old man and the 43-year-old patched-up bike hold together under the strain?

After seeing the movie and while still in my euphoric state, my skeptical mind wondered how much of it was actually true. I did a little research, and the portrayal of this amazing man seems to be true enough. Go see this movie; if you do, you'll leave the theater feeling good, and perhaps even a little inspired.

It's a good thing I took my wife, because as all men know the only way not to cry is to look over at your wife/girlfriend and make fun of them for crying.

Seriously, I am a motorcycle aficionado but I truly think this movie transcends that. It's not a "guy's film" at all but a serious look at the life of a man that was average by his own reckoning - by ours he's a hero. When you find yourself looking at that and saying "I would have quit" and it was only the beginning of the movie, well, that's some tough stock Burt Munro came from.

And it's not tedious, not an uphill struggle all the way against insurmountable odds, none of those clichés. It's a great movie about a real guy and I can't imagine someone watching it and not being entertained, moved, and frankly, impressed.

Invercargill, New Zealand, is noted for being the country's southernmost city and for having the least hours of sunshine and the most number of rain days of any NZ large town. It is also famous for being the home town of a gritty old codger called Burt Munroe who set a number of world motor cycle speed records (one of which still stands) in the 1960s at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, riding a 1920 Indian Scout motor cycle.

Roger Donaldson, one of the midwives to the renaissance of the Kiwi film industry in the 1980s ("Sleeping Dogs", "Smash Palace") and latterly Hollywood director ("Thirteen Days"), made "Offerings to the God of Speed" a documentary on Burt in 1972, when he was still alive. This dramatization of the same story – little man triumphs though sheer grit and determination – is a triumph for his star. Anthony Hopkins is good at quirky curmudgeons but here he manages to exude a little homespun charm as well. His Burt has the happy knack of getting people to help him rather than shaft him. Officialdom melts at his approach and he is even attractive to the ladies, as Burt would have put it. It's Tony Hopkin's film and he carries it off in fine style. I'm not sure about the accent which is more northern British than southern NZ but it hardly matters as the Americans in the film can scarcely understand it anyway.

The rest of the cast were all adequate and Aaron Murphy as Tom the kid from next door was actually able to steal some scenes. I also noticed an old acquaintance in a minor role as Frank the bike club president - Tim Shadbolt, student radical of the late 60s and now mayor of Invercargill. Burt had no money but he did get community support at various times, so Invercargillians can take some pride in his achievements.

Which brings me to what I think is the hole in this account. The Indian motorcycle, which was a light machine used for dispatch and scout work in World War One, had a top speed, according to the makers, of 57 mph. It had a V-2 cylinder block design and a decent capacity of just under 1000cc. Burt was a backyard mechanic who constantly tinkered with it, even casting his own pistons, which blew with monotonous regularity. Somehow he got the thing to exceed 200mph. No doubt the streamlining helped, but he must have modified the original design radically. Donaldson presents this without any explanation. Maybe Burt wouldn't tell him, or maybe Donaldson thought too much tech stuff would put the punters off. It wouldn't have taken much to explain it.

As others have said, this is very much a "feel-good" movie and I think, as an ex-resident of NZ, evocative of some of the more admirable aspects of the NZ character – the optimism, the friendliness, the capacity for improvisation and the willingness to rise to a challenge, and even occasionally to take risks. Burt had a lot in common with those pioneer settlers from Scotland who arrived in Southland 100 years earlier and founded Invercargill, a place the Maori sensibly regarded as a trifle too chilly to actually live in (though they visited for the oysters and muttonbirds). But he also had some home-grown attributes as well. .

I must admit, on this particular day I was dragged to the cinema with no prior knowledge of the characters, plot and had no awareness of the historical basis upon which the film is based. After a minute or so, I realized my partner (a fairly new motorcycle rider himself, making me a motorcycle widow of course) had lured me into a film about motorbikes. I rolled my eyes at him, yawned and prepared for the worst ...

What I got instead was the best film I've seen for quite some time.

Anthony Hopkins totally blew me away. His accent was really very strong (it should be noted that the Invercargil accent is pretty distinct from the rest of the South Island of NZ) and he managed to maintain the audience's interest though some pretty dialogue-heavy scenes. All of the supporting characters did a brilliant job defining a diverse physical and emotional landscape for the protagonist. The cinematography was economical and meaningful and assisted the humorous moments beautifully. The story unfolded very nicely and - thanks to some great editing - the small moments of tension were plentiful and kept the story moving along nicely.

With all the cynicism and politics in contemporary cinema, it is so refreshing to see a film that is very pure, that speaks volumes about kindness and passion and friendship without saying anything at all. This film didn't try to make any big statements, there were no lengthy diatribes about 'acceptance' and 'tolerance', and I loved that.

I left the cinema with a huge grin on my face. I'm so glad I was dragged along for the ride.