A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

A highly-personal film for writer/director Roger Donaldson, the unpromisingly-entitled The World's Fastest Indian tells the story of Burt Munro, a New Zealander who in the 1960s after his retirement, takes to rebuilding an old motorcycle and ends up setting all sorts of land speed records.  It seems a very unlikely project for Donaldson (and indeed Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays the lead), given his mostly action-based past, but has got simply incredibly reviews and ranks as one of the best-reviewed films in several years.  Of course, nobody will go to see it, but that's just the way of the world.  

Without trying to be unkind in any way, I can't really think of a less likely composer for an inspirational true story like this one than J. Peter Robinson, who is best-known for his low-budget scores for low-budget horror movies, rightly or wrongly.  How wrong I was!  This is anything but low-budget music.  (Indeed, Robinson has worked with the director twice before, including the smash-hit Cocktail, very much a film of its time!)  The liner notes tell the unusual circumstances in which the music was written - a large part was improvised by Robinson on the piano while he was viewing the film for the very first time.  (Shades of Vangelis, perhaps?)  This is the sort of approach to film scoring that would usually produce a groan from me, but in this case it seems to have allowed the composer to express the surprise and genuine emotion he felt while seeing the film for the first time in a way that a more considered approach possibly wouldn't have done.  (Of course, he went away and worked on the score extensively after that first run-through - this isn't an album of those piano recordings!)

The first four cues offer a nice summary of the different styles heard throughout the score.  "Burt and Tom" is a rather wistful piece dominated by solo piano, very pleasant and easy-on-the-ear; the shadow of Thomas Newman looms large over "Bike Shop", complete with marimbas and guitars in the now-familiar style pioneered by Newman; "Departure" is a piece for modest orchestra, always melodic, always attractive; and "Beach Race" is the kind of rousing, all-action symphonic piece which so many film music fans love from scores like Rudy and Forrest Gump.  All four of these styles - along with a soft country twang from time to time, and occasionally more tense and agitated for the moments of the film when things are not going as well as planned!  Things culminate in the titular 16th track - while I imagine will be on many listeners' iPod rotations for some time to come.

The World's Fastest Indian is a delightful score, a really impressive departure for Robinson, and hopefully can lead onto bigger and better things for the composer.  It's pleasing to see that scores like this can get released (no doubt facilitated by the AFM's agreement to lower reuse fees for scores which aren't likely to be big-sellers); the album is available from Milan Records, who have made a habit of releasing slightly more unusual and obscure scores for a long time now.  This one's recommended.

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Tracks

1. Burt and Tom (2:06)
2. Bike Shop (1:09)
3. Departure (4:09)
4. Beach Race (1:43)
5. Disappointment (2:08)
6. Eggs for Fran (:32)
7. Memoires (3:16)
8. Road Encounters (3:07)
9. Jake (2:41)
10. Burma Shave (1:28)
11. Bonneville Salt Flats (3:24)
12. Trial Run (3:02)
13. Refusal / Heart Attack (2:35)
14. Rusty (1:01)
15. Sportsman of the Year (1:50)
16. The World's Fastest Indian (5:46)
17. Burt's Triumph (:55)
18. Back to my Shed (3:38)