Director Matthew Dyas has an ideal documentary subject in Fiennes, an arresting character of remarkable accomplishment, documented through archival footage that makes clear how punishingly brutal the challenges of the adventures were. Some of the archival footage looks scratchier than anything from the last 30 years should, perhaps to underscore the impression of Fiennes’ accomplishments as connected to forebears like Hillary and Perry, or perhaps just to underscore the dire conditions of the locations. The organization of the film, jumping back and forth in time, is distracting. But the subject is never less than enthralling.
Fiennes does not try to explain his expeditions with heroic “because it’s there” rhetoric. He simply says he did it “to pay the gas bill.” But the movie does not shy away from consideration of the white privilege that allowed the baronet to make a life out of exploring. He might need money, but he understands that is not the same thing as being poor. His thousands of sponsors include a man who kindly gives him an office job for ten years, with three months off each year for expeditions. Another sponsor is Prince Charles.
When Fiennes returns to the North Pole, we also briefly see through his eyes the impact of climate change.
It is touching to see Fiennes, who is almost a parody of the strong, silent hero, described as “a piece of granite all the way to the heart,” so utterly devoted to his childhood sweetheart Ginny, who was his full partner in planning and getting the funding for all of his expeditions. Their hug when he is rescued, near-frozen, near-starved, is all the more endearing because it is a glimpse of the depth of his feelings we do not see again until Ginny is gone. For the first time, his motto, from The Golden Journey to Samarkand, “always a little further,” cannot get him to move forward. Until he does, finally achieving Ginny’s greatest wish for him. He embarks on the most universal of journeys, and yet one of the most terrifying adventures of all. He becomes a father.
Now available on digital platforms.