Michael Wilmington

CHICAGO TRIBUNE , Jan. 15, 1999 3 Stars

INSIDE/OUT

The gorgeous widescreen black-and-white photography of Robert Tregenza's

"Inside/Out" is so unlike what we usually see in low-budget American independent films

that it comes as something of a shock. A shock as pleasant as it is slightly unsettling.

The movie, Tregenza's third feature and an official 1997 Cannes

Film Festival selection (in "Un Certain Regard"), is about the

tangled relationships among inmates and keepers in a very

strange suburban American mental institution. This place, which

looks like a crumbling lyceum, is chockful of artists and

alienated lovers. And cinematographer-editor-writer-director

Tregenza has a vision that suits it. He stages each scene in a

single, intricately choreographed long take: a style that seems to

take us deep inside the patients' heads, into a very private,

cinema-conscious world.

There's little speech among the inmates (sometimes, though, we

hear their thoughts), many of whom appear to be foreign-born

and/or artists: musicians, actors, writers, poets. But their

relations are intense. One French female inmate loves a French

male inmate, who is in turn loved by the local church's organist,

who is lusted after by the local priest.

Frustration is the key. Beyond these erotic dances, there are

failed attempts at suicide, a bingo tournament and an amateur

stage show, all of which degenerate into chaos. So do most of

the laughable attempts at therapy or "treatment." Yet, though the

keepers or doctors seem as loony as the patients, this doesn't

quite become the '60s "King of Hearts" cliche it first suggests.

(Instead, it's part of the general mystery and absurdity of

Tregenza's world.)

As all the characters circle each other, inside and out, moving

toward a dark climax, there's little talk and much metaphor.

Most of the scenes suggest elaborate, near-wordless games in

which the keepers -- especially one sadistic cop/guard --

tyrannize the patients while the patients attempt vainly to break

free. Occasionally there's a brief escape. Sometimes, for a

moment, imagination triumphs.

Tregenza's lush or austere imagery suggests Western or Eastern

European art films of the 1960s. And he loves complex, long

takes, using them intelligently to suggest ways in which

experience can become a game or ritual -- and also the ways

those games can irretrievably break down.

What does it all mean? Maybe a lot; maybe little. "Inside/Out,"

with few exceptions, is weaker on performance than visuals,

thinner on thought than style. The actors are often so obviously

"acting" that their scenes rarely ignite or compel belief. But,

however unconvincing those scenes may be, they are often

fascinating, sometimes beautiful. Maddening as "Inside/Out"

may be at times, this is a movie with unique rewards beyond the

norms of low-budget American indie filmmaking. At its best, it

engrosses us, against the grain, and moves us, curiously.

"Inside/Out" opens Friday at Facets Multimedia. No MPAA

rating.

-Michael Wilmington

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