Inside/Out. 1997. USA. Written, directed, photographed, and edited by Rob Tregenza. With Frédéric Pierrot, Bérangère Allaux, Stefania Rocca, Mikkel Gaup. New 35mm print made from the original negative, supervised by Rob Tregenza. 115 min.
An admirer of Tregenza’s Talking to Strangers, Jean-Luc Godard helped Tregenza with this 1997 film, which features the two leads from Godard’s For Ever Mozart, Frédéric Pierrot and Bérangère Allaux, as lovers in an icily repressive mental institution. Superbly shot by Tregenza in widescreen black-and-white, the seemingly disconnected sequences unfold around notions of belonging and exile, captivity and freedom.
“Tregenza’s background in existential philosophy serves him well: every shot comprises an event, and most of them were shot only once, in a single take (as in Talking to Strangers), allowing change and contingency to shape the material. Art conceived as both adventure and confrontation, Inside/Out requires a certain amount of creative energy from the audience but grandly repays the effort” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).