He is announced to a large studio audience as “the legendary Ranulph Fiennes” and I suppose that if there is a man who deserves such a moniker it could be him, though I’m guessing that you’re struggling to think of any time in your life that you’ve even heard his name (he is a cousin to Ralph Fiennes if that helps). I was the same. Here is a man who throughout his extraordinary time on Earth has accomplished tremendous feats of human endurance and exploration that it almost seems impossible. A list of his achievement would likely fill this page, but to rattle off a few to give you an impression, he set a world record for crossing Antarctica, completed seven marathons in seven continents in seven days (this a few months after bypass surgery), climbed Mt. Everest (at 65), discovered the lost city of Iram in Oman, and oh yeah, was the first person to cross the Earth pole-to-pole. So yeah. He’s been busy.
Documentarian Matthew Dyas tackles the story, one that goes back several decades (Fiennes is 78 in the film), hoping to get insight into a man who is rarely introspective, openly admitting that he must stop and lecture to make money so he can do what he loves. Dyas packs the film, which runs just under two hours, with plenty of archival footage from Fiennes exploits, much of thrilling, some of it funny, a lot of it offering hints into the man’s obsession.
Kicked out of British military service for some shenanigans that aren’t entirely clear, he lost his own father to World War II before he was even born. From there, it was the call of adventure, and away he went, along with his first wife Ginny, whom he met when he was only twelve. The two were partners in his explorations, she heard in old recordings that reveal her powerful presence in his life and in fact was the instigator in the planning and execution of his globe-trotting escapades. She died of cancer in 2004, and despite his monumental account of all his travels, it is his reflections on her that offer the most emotion.
Claiming to have lost out to Roger Moore for the role of James Bond, Fiennes is at least as charismatic. We hear through telephone conversations from those who have been part of his life tell their side of what being around him is like. It’s indeed fascinating and the immense collection of footage from his youth, his explorations, and everything in-between, scattered among moments filmed currently that have Fiennes talk about what we see makes for a unique experience. It has the flare of a 1970s exposé with the detail and production value of a modern drama.
Explorer may lack the punchy title it probably deserves, but Dyas provides the viewer with plenty to think about in terms of what and who Randolph Fiennes is and why he’s done what he has. As he demonstrates the manner is which he sheared off the tops of several gangrenous fingers, you get a clinical sense of his ambitions and the cost he’s willing to pay. It’s hard to look at him as an elder man and not wonder at the figure who rejected the ‘normal’ path, feeling school left him uninspired, now looking back at what so few have done. There is joy as he does, but there is a gap we must accept, impossible for us to relate to or understand the life he’s truly lived. Perhaps that is why he is legendary.