Just a short note today between answering robocalls about Bert Munro who has something to say to the diminished people of America today. Bert Munro or at least the version of Bert that comes through in Anthony Hopkins brilliant portrayal in "The World's Fastest Indian" is a lovable old rascal from New Zealand.
The Hockomock Film Club viewed Munro's story last night based on a member's recommendation. I had never heard of this 2005 film, but what a film it is. When we meet Munro it is 1963 and he is a 67 year-old eccentric who lives in a shack with bits of homemade parts for his 1920 Indian motorcycle. His dream is to take his antique to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set the land speed record for his size engine. Hopkins brilliant acting takes us inside the life of an old man with young man's dreams. His health is falling apart, he's living on his pension and barely gotten by. The little boy next door still believes that he can achieve his goal, but his neighbors, who love this genuine person, have their doubts. Two scenes early in the film sum this up: we see Munro sending the little boy home to borrow his mom's carving knife so he can cut the tread off second hand tires, and we later see the Indian which really can go like a bat out of hell in a straight line lose a race with a local motorcycle gang because Munro can't take a turn during the race.
What happens next is how Bert finally makes it to America and his trip from LA to Utah. It's Don Quixote and Crocodile Dundee in an America that still valued authenticity. It's Huckleberry Finn as an old man with the highway as the Mississippi. It's an America that was still capable of reacting to a slightly daft dreamer with (mostly) kindness and gentleness. It's also hilarious as well as profound. You're kept on the edge of your seat worrying about whether poverty and heart and prostate problems will keep Munro from realizing his dream. The film ends both as you might expect and as a total surpirse. Hopkins should have won an Academy Award. He considers this his best performance, and he is well supported by the wonderful cast and the excellent cinematography. Rent this film.
Welcome
A curiosity shop is a place of odds and ends in a wide range of categories. One never knows what one will find on any visit, and that is the goal of this blog. Here you'll find postings on doings around Easton, the world's environment, history, recipes, fly fishing, books, music, and movies with many other things thrown in as well. Hope you enjoy it and keep coming back.
No comments:
Post a Comment