Negatives

Hungarian director Peter Medak’s 1968 movie debut NEGATIVES, based on the novel by Peter Everett, is an absolute oddity for sure and yet it’s wondrous and strangely fascinating. Peter McEnery, Glenda Jackson and Diane Cilento deliver stellar performances as, er, three oddballs whose kinky mind games gradually replace reality.

Given the film’s opening scene, you’d be forgiven in assuming that this is going to be a costume drama, not just because of the style of the opening credits but because of the way the two protagonists, Theo (Peter McEnery) and Vivien (Glenda Jackson) are dressed. Yes, they are dressed in Edwardian garb and make their way from the front room (also decorated in a style which suggests a bygone era) to the rooftop terrace, surrounded by flower pots and so forth. A voiceover recites the sentencing of Edwardian murderer Dr. Crippen, who ended his life dangling from the gallows for the murder of his wife Cora. But we know that the real Dr. Crippen met his maker in London’s Pentonville Prison and not on a rooftop terrace, so we already sense that in Theo and Vivien’s case, cosplay must be involved. Sure enough, when Theo looks upwards towards the sky and the camera follows his eyes, a passenger jet suddenly flies across the sky and we know that we are firmly in 60s London and not in the London of 1910.

The reason for Theo and Vivien’s role play becomes clear soon enough though: they are a couple who have seen better days and passion has long made way for ridicule, that is to say Vivien loves taking on the role of Dr. Crippen’s domineering wife Cora, who performed in music halls under the stage name Belle Elmore. Anyone familiar with the Crippen story knows that their marriage was anything but smooth riding. Just like the real Dr. Crippen, Theo is shy, introvert and not particularly successful in his business endeavours - in fact, their flat is above his old, ramshackle antiques shop which sells second hand bric-a-brac and curiosities from yonks ago. Customers look, but rarely buy. Which gives Vivien the perfect ammo to humiliate Theo, who often plays chess by himself, further. If the role play is meant to be a solution to saving their relationship, it surely backfires, as only sometimes genuine passion and tenderness come to the forefront when Vivian takes on another role, namely the one of Dr. Crippen’s secret lover, Ethel Le Neve. So well, when not engaged in cosplay, Theo whiles the day away in his antiques shop which he inherited from his father (Maurice Denham), who now is in hospital gravely ill and knows his days are numbered - the same fate may well be in store for the shop.

Finally though, Theo’s life becomes a little spicier when he encounters a sassy German photographer, Reingard (Diane Cilento) who seems to take a genuine interest in him… so much so that she proposes to move in with him and Vivien. Although initially objecting to the idea, Vivien - much to Theo’s chagrin - takes a liking to Reingard and allows her to take a room in the house, with the German photographer taking on the role of a voyeur who chronicles Theo and Vivien’s psychological sado-maso games with her camera. If Theo was under the impression that until he met Reingard, his only friend was upholsterer Massinger (Billy Russell), then a big disappointment looms, because Reingard doesn’t turn out to be the friend and ally he had hoped she would be. Far from it, she too has her own agenda and encourages him to take on another part just for her, namely the part of German WW1 flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, aka ‘The Red Baron’. At least it’s a macho role which restores his masculinity and male pride, something that Vivien loves to trample into the ground on a regular basis. But when Theo stumbles upon an old plane on a scrapheap and has it lifted onto his rooftop terrace - lovingly restored by Massinger and even painted in the same red as Richthofen’s plane was, Theo’s fantasy becomes a deadly reality…

Ken Hodges cinematography and Barrie Vince’s editing ought to be applauded, with Basil Kirchin’s music rounding things up nicely. NEGATIVES may not be everyone’s cup of tea but there’s much to be found and treasured here, a bit like the various oddities in Theo’s antiques shop.

NEGATIVES has just been released newly remastered on Blu-ray with the following Bonus Material:
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas /
Audio interviews with Peter Medak (2024, 89 mins) / False Positive (2025, 11 mins): a newly recorded interview with actor Peter McEnery / Editing Negatives (2026, 31 mins): an interview with editor Barrie Vince / Positives From Negativeland: Scrapbook From a Grand Debut (2025, 16 mins) / The Doctor Will See You Now (2025, 24 mins): an interview with Dr. Clare Smith, the historic collection curator at the Metropolitan Police Museum / Image gallery / Illustrated booklet (first pressing only.