Negatives by Peter Medak

When released in the 1960’s, this film was marketed purely on its eroticism, though by modern standards it may appear tame. What holds the attention is the quiet tragedy of Theo, a man too weak to extricate himself from a life that no longer fits him. He exists mostly in fantasy. He has allowed the real world to fade out, visiting it like a ghost gazing into an abyss. In psychology, one might say that Theo has a fantasy-prone personality, yet this is not always a negative.

Many children who suffered abuse can be fantasy-prone in adulthood, but they may use it to channel creativity, which empowers them to deal with trauma. Theo remains mired in a long-dead, domineering relationship, unable to leave, and equally unable to accept the social station his father occupied before him, a position the world seems to have assumed was simply his inheritance. This film questions how much choice a person has in the role they have in society; there may be situations where some are pushed into identities and roles. Even society can do this; many schools in the past taught children from certain social classes that they would fit only one type of job or role.

Theo suffers from depression, his father is dying, and his father’s helplessness is a painful mirror for his own situation of weakness. He and his partner attempt to revive their relationship through erotic role-play, adopting alter egos, his being Dr Crippen, but the sexual explorations cannot animate what is already dead between them. A photographer enters his life - confident, perceptive, and entirely uninterested in Theo as he is, preferring instead to exploit his weakness, to cast him as yet another fantasy figure. Theo's weakness is his ultimate downfall. The film keeps returning, quietly, to a single question: how much of the shape of a life is truly chosen, and how much is simply the residue of other, more forceful people or even society itself? Who is really pulling the strings in our lives? The visual skill of the filmmaker is compelling, and the fantasy worlds he creates are utterly mesmerising to watch on screen.