World's Fastest Indian
Burt Munro was a sweet, unassuming, eccentric old man. He lived in a concrete-block shack, in a mess of a yard, in an otherwise neat suburban street in Invercargill, New Zealand/Aotearoa. He shared his shack with his great love, his ancient souped-up Indian ‘motorsickle’, and he was a man in a hurry – to get to the perfect conditions at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, US, to set a speed record before he ‘popped his clogs’.
A biopic about an odd guy on an old bike might not sound appealing, especially as writer-director Donaldson and Anthony Hopkins, who plays Burt, have too often churned out slick Hollywood hokum. Here, though, Donaldson returns to his roots to make the kind of film that decades ago first fired him to become a filmmaker. Hopkins, too, keeps it wonderfully real. As the ordinary-extraordinary old man who lives in his own mechanical world, but who’s wise, witty, generous and warm-hearted, he shows what a great character actor he can be.
This is a feel-good movie with a huge heart.
- Product information
- directed by Roger Donaldson
- Star rating
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
- Benny from West Papua on Corporate Power
- Vinayan from India on agriculture
