The World's Fastest Indian

With The World’s Fastest Indian, Kiwi director Roger Donaldson comes home. It’s good to have him back.

The World’s Fastest Indian, New Zealand, 2005

WFI Productions Limited
Director/writer/producer: Roger Donaldson
Producer: Gary Hannam
Editor: John Gilbert
Cinematography: David Gribble
Production designer: Rob Gillies (NZ), J Dennis Washington (US)
Art direction: Roger Guise, Mark Hofeling
Costumes: Nancy Cavallaro, Jane Holland
Music composer: J Peter Robinson

With: Anthony Hopkins (Burt Munro), Jessica Cauffiel (Wendy), Saginaw Grant (Jake), Diane Ladd (Ada), Chris Lawford (Jim), Aaron Murphy (Sam), Paul Rodriguez (Fernando), Annie Whittle (Fran), Chris Williams (Tina Washington)

35mm, 127 minutes, PG–contains coarse language

Air New Zealand Screen Awards 2006: Best Picture, Best Director (Roger Donaldson), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Anthony Hopkins), Best Screenplay (Roger Donaldson), Best Editing (John Gilbert), Best Production Design (J Dennis Washington), Best Sound (Tim Prebble)

"The World's Fastest Indian is a movie about an old coot and his motorcycle, yes, but it is also about a kind of heroism that has gone out of style. Burt Munro is a codger in his 60s who lives in Invercargill, New Zealand, takes nitro pills for his heart condition, and has spent years tinkering with a 1920 Indian motorcycle. His neighbors wish he would take a break once in a while to mow the grass. By 1967, Burt thinks the Indian may be about ready to travel to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and take part in the annual Speed Week. This project involves fund-raising in Invercargill, and a long journey that takes him overland in America, where he meets among others an accommodating widow who takes him to visit her husband's grave. In Bonneville, where millionaire drivers are sponsored by big corporations, no one has ever seen anyone like Burt or anything like his ancient machine. He should have registered weeks ago, but the officials lack the heart to turn him away. They are amazed when they inspect his machine. No braking chute? No brakes? ‘Where's your fire suit?’ Can that be a cork on his gas tank? There is no tread on his tires. Is that mechanical part a – kitchen hinge? Why do they allow this man to risk his life in defiance of every safety standard at Bonneville? I think it is because Burt loves his motorcycle, and cannot believe she would harm him; the steadfastness of his trust seduces them. When Burt discusses his motorcycle, which he rhymes with Popsicle, he gets into theories he must have pondered long into the night in his garage in New Zealand: ‘The center of pressure is behind the center of gravity,’ he explains, as if that explained anything. Or maybe it does. With Burt, you can never be sure. This is one of Anthony Hopkins' most endearing, least showy performances. The man who created Hannibal Lecter and Richard Nixon is concerned here with the precise behavior of a quiet, introverted man who is simultaneously obsessed and a little muddled. It's as if his fellow racing drivers have been visited by a traveler from the dawn of their sport, when guys tinkered with their machines in the tool shed and roared up and down country roads. Burt Munro is a man for whom the world seems brand-new: He is amazed to enter a restaurant and see, for the first time in his life, a menu with photographs... Burt Munro was a real man, and the film is based on fact. Roger Donaldson, the movie's writer and director, grew up in New Zealand, where Munro was a folk hero. He wrote the first draft of this script in 1979, after a 1971 documentary, and then life took him to Hollywood and to big-budget thrillers like No Way Out, and now at last he has returned to tell the story of a hero of his youth. It is also the story of certain New Zealand characteristics, among which is self-effacing modesty. Burt Munro would think it unseemly to call attention to himself, although he is happy for his Indian to get attention. (Before one race, he pops a nitro pill into the gas tank and as he swallows the second, he explains, ‘one for myself and one for the old girl.’) In an era of showboat sports superstars, how strange to see old Burt challenge one of the most durable records in racing and then actually be embarrassed by the attention. Read no further if you do not want to know how Burt does at Bonneville, although perhaps you have already guessed that The World's Fastest Indian is not about the second-fastest Indian. Yes, in 1967 Burt coaxed the Indian to 201.85 mph, even as a muffler was burning the flesh on his leg. That set a record in the category of "streamlined motorcycles under 1000 cc." It is a record, the film assures us, that still stands to this day. Burt returned nine times to Bonneville, becoming a hero, although deflecting attention with his diffidence, his shyness, his way of talking about the Indian instead of about himself. We are reminded that when Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, he titled his autobiography We – so that it also included his airplane. That's how Burt feels about the old girl.” — Roger Ebert, 3 February 2006, www.rogerebert.com

“With The World’s Fastest Indian, Kiwi director Roger Donaldson comes home. It’s good to have him back. Like Munro, he went to the United States, but the results (such as The Recruit) haven’t been as impressive. Like Geoff Murphy, Donaldson’s finest, meatiest movies are probably his first two, Sleeping Dogs (1977) and Smash Palace (1981). The latter; hailed by emperor critic Roger Ebert as ‘one of 1982’s best films by a young film maker named Roger Donaldson, who, in a sense, is the New Zealand film industry’, starred Bruno Lawrence as racing driver Al Shaw. As Donaldson’s 1972 documentary Offerings to the God of Speed, also about Burt, had indicated, Donaldson has an enduring affinity with men who like to race. Hopkins, a reliably engaging presence, has fun playing the affable bloke; ensuring he’s a real character; not a cliché… A bum ticker; prostate problems and other challenges can’t hold this good keen man back from his trip overseas. With his old-school values of tolerance and inclusivity, Burt embraces the non-mainstream. Along with all the women, he befriends Maori, American Indians, Vietnam soldier Rusty, even a transvestite. The United Nations should have given him a job. The pacing occasionally bobs, but Donaldson helms this innocent abroad’s adventure smoothly. Burt arrives, amusingly sorts out Customs and Hollyweird, before battling the bureaucrats to let him into the competition he’s naively neglected to register for. There’s more good gentle humour; like the scene where he gives the old girl, which looks a little like Cool Runnings’ bobsled, one of his heart pills before their big, exciting race on the striking salt. The World’s Fastest Indian is much more convincing that that Jamaican farrago; it’s a genuine crowdpleaser; especially for mature audiences.” — Alexander Bisley, The Dominion Post, 14 October 2005

“Much of the money behind this New Zealand film is Japanese and the Australian-born writer-director is more American than Kiwi these days. Certainly there is nothing distinctively indigenous in the point of view of a film that regards its main character slightly askance as a goofy innocent abroad. But it will always have ‘New Zealand’ in brackets after its name and that’s apt, because Burt Munro is the kind of character who couldn’t have been made anywhere else. Donaldson’s take on the story of this remarkable New Zealander is a disarmingly lightweight, old-fashioned, feelgood drama that makes no great demands on its audience. Old codgers don’t attract young audiences so it’s a kids’ film for grown-ups really. The story embodies a strong element of our national character: the power of ingenuity and hard work to compensate for a shortage of resources. Hopkins has said he hasn’t enjoyed a film as much and he shows it, turning in a generous, genial and utterly approachable performance. He never gets anywhere near a Kiwi accent – his vowels swoop from the Welsh valleys to the high veldt without ever alighting in Southland – but he nails the backyard eccentric genius dead centre… Donaldson has firm command of the film’s last third, in which Burt fight for a chance to ride to glory. The impression of speed is not particularly compelling in some shots… but the arc is remorselessly upward and it’s hard to resist applauding. This is not a great New Zealand film. But it’s a bloody good one.” — Peter Calder, Time Out, 8 October 2005

“The film about Invercargill motorcycle legend Burt Munro has grossed $6 million in local ticket sales – representing more than 400,000 tickets – since its release in October. That makes it the third-highest grossing NZ film ever, behind Once Were Warriors ($6.8 million) and Whale Rider ($6.4 million). With attendances still high, its distributor says the film is well on its way to top the chart. The World’s Fastest Indian is also the third-highest grossing release of 2005 behind the New Zealand-filmed blockbusters King Kong and Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” — NZ Herald, 24 January 2006

Screenings: The World’s Fastest Indian screened on 14 November 2007 as the final film in the "Sleepers Awake" series, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sleeping Dogs. It was also the first in a new series "Hitting the Road".