Oscar Profile #125: Ralph Fiennes

Born December 22, 1962, Ralph Fiennes is the eldest of six children born to photographer Mark Fiennes and his wife, novelist Jennifer Lash.

An eighth cousin of the Prince of Wales, with his mellifluous voice, Fiennes give the impression of a well-heeled British aristocrat when in fact he was brought up in near poverty. The family moved to Ireland in 1973 where he spent his formative years. Moving back to England, he was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London between 1983 and 1985 and made his stage debut soon after.

On TV in 1990, he made his film debut as Heathcliff in the 1992 version of Wuthering Heights. He became a major star with 1993’s Schindler’s List for which he received numerous awards including an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of evil Nazi commandant Amon Goeth. He received universal acclaim for his performances in 1994’s Quiz Show and 1996’s The English Patient for which he received a second Oscar nomination.

Major starring roles followed in such films as The Avengers and Oscar and Lucinda, but it wasn’t until1999’s The End of the Affair that he was once again the recipient of major awards recognition. It would be another six years until he was once again in the running for major awards in 2005’s The Constant Gardener.

Fiennes expanded his fan base with his appearance as Voldemort in the fourth Harry Potter film, 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and continued to play the villainous character for the remainder of the series.

In 2008 he had a featured role in the year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, The Hurt Locker and starred opposite the year’s Best Actress winner, Kate Winslet in The Reader.

Fiennes had a very busy year in 2011 in which he appeared in the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two; played an important role in TV’s Page Eight and directed his first film, Coriolanus in which he also starred.

The actor was last seen on screen in one of 2012’s biggest hits, Skyfall and has four new films in various stages of productions. Ralph Fiennes remains ever popular at the age of 50.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg

Fiennes’ breakthrough role as hair-trigger Nazi commandant Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List is a startling depiction of evil personified. The atrocities slowly mount in Spielberg’s brilliant three hour and fifteen minute holocaust drama during its first hour, but really take hold with Fiennes’ entry fifty-seven minutes into the film.

There’s no telling who this madman will shoot and kill next. It could be someone in the camp who annoys him because he is taking a momentary break; a woman who is a civil engineer who has the audacity to warn the soldiers that the building being constructed will fall down or a boy who has been his faithful house servant because he is unable to remove a stain from his bathtub.

Needless to say there are no tears in the audience when he finally receives his just desserts in the end. Fiennes’ first Oscar nomination was well deserved.

QUIZ SHOW (1994), directed by Robert Redford

Fiennes did a complete about-face as the charismatic Charles Van Doren in Redford’s meticulously mounted retelling of the headline making exposé of a TV show scandal of the 1950s.

Fiennes is handsome, well-spoken and seemingly brilliant as the scion of a renowned literary family who is an unbeatable contestant on The 64,000 Question. His father Mark Van Doren (Paul Scofield) is a Pulitzer prize-winning writer and beloved professor at Columbia University. The scandal that erupts when it is discovered that Charles was fed the answers soils the reputation of the entire family.

As good as Fiennes is, the incomparable Scofield is even better, and it was he, not Finness, who received the film’s only acting nomination out of a total four Oscar bids overall.

THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996), directed by Anthony Minghella

Michael Ondatjee’s novel was said to be un-filmable. Minghella not only filmed it but made it into the year’s most admiredl film, earning twelve Oscar nominations and nine wins including Best Picture.

The film tells two stories, that of a young nurse (Juliette Binoche) and the badly burned pilot (Fiennes) she finds, and that of the pilot whose story is told in flashback. Fiennes does some of his best acting as the downed pilot both in his scenes with Binoche and Kristin Scott Thomas as the married woman with whom he has an ill-fated affair.

The difficult role earned Fiennes a richly deserved second Oscar nomination, of which there have oddly been no more to date despite other outstanding performances.

THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1999), directed by Neil Jordan

Graham Greene’s novel had been previously filmed in 1955 with Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson and Peer Cushing in the roles played so brilliantly here by Julianne Moore, Fiennes and Stephen Rea. That version was merely good, this one is superb.

Fiennes has never been better than as the novelist who has an affair with married Moore during World War II which she abruptly breaks off for a reason unbeknownst to him. A chance meeting with her husband after the war rekindles his interest. Moore received the film’s only Oscar nod for acting. Roger Pratt’s vivid cinematography was also acknowledged. The direction, screenplay, production design and Rea’s portrayal of the betrayed husband, as well as Fiennes’ performance, were also Oscar worthy.

THE CONSTANT GARDENER (2005), directed by Fernando Meirelles

Oscar missed another opportunity to recognize Fiennes with a nomination for his moving portrayal of a young widower who sets out to the find the truth behind his wife’s brutal murder. Rachel Weisz, also outstanding as the murdered wife in flashback, was nominated and won for her performance making it the third time Oscar recognized one of Fiennes’ co-stars (Paul Scofield and Julianne Moore were the others) while overlooking his own award-worthy contribution.

Fiennes would fare better with the British Academy’s Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) which gave him their fourth nomination for this. He had previously been nominated for Schindler’s List; The English Patient and The End of the Affair and would be again for his directorial debut, Coriolanus.