Couch Potato Pickings | The World’s Fastest Indian

The World’s Fastest Indian

If you're a regular visitor to Movie Talk, this post may look familiar. I posted about The World's Fastest Indian a couple of weeks ago, but this film was pulled from the line up at the last minute and replaced by Brooke Kinsella's documentary about her murdered brother Ben Kinsella.

The BBC have rescheduled the movie for tonight.

The world’s fastest Indian isn’t a person, but this bike – a 1920s Indian Scout motorcycle.

Having learned that, I’m picturing myself rearranging the couch upholstery while watching this film tonight.

Apparently, it's a true story about an ageing Kiwi bike bore obsessed with vintage vehicle restoration who goes to Utah to try and break some speed record in his old banger.

Engines, wheels, speed – these are not thing I care about, and I now recall why I’ve not been the world’s fastest at adding this to my ‘films seen’ checklist.

HOWEVER, I’m willing to give it a go because I'm told that it's not really about racing. Apparently, it's more a portrait of  the eccentric antipodean motorcycle maniac Burt Munro (played by Anthony Hopkins) and the mixed bag of characters he encounters on his US road trip.

Showing on BBC1 tonight at 10.45pm