Utflykt Opus 2 (1965)

In the prologue of Excursion:Opus 2, the camera sweeps over nearly unidentifiable details on a sleeping man’s body, mixed with discontinuous images of the morning routines of two people and their preparation for an excursion. Subtle sounds of wind blowing are combined with squalling, inarticulate sounds of birds and frogs. The couple cycle through a dense forest, climb amongst ferns, and kiss to a soundtrack of classical music (without being overtly obvious or romantic) layered with birdsong, which gradually distorts into more psychedelic and frightening noise. Close-ups of the romantic couple, camera shots that follow the cyclists’ rush through the woods, and the couple struggling through the dense and almost unreal vegetation of bush and tangled pine, are woven together in an intense montage of dream-like and unworldly atmosphere.