Angels In Sepia

Oleg Vronski and Vadim Hausman: Frisky Summer 3: Wild Strawberries (1998)

Getting lost in the woods can be quite unsettling…until a friend magically appears to show you the way…he keeps you company..he keeps you safe..then, as the sun descends through the trees into twilight, he’ll keep you warm….it is then that you realize the woods have become a less scary place, perhaps, it becomes even pleasurable.

As I was running through Frisky Summer 3: Wild Strawberries (1998), lining up scenes for another video mash-up dealing with this series of films, I was so taken by this scene’s magic, I had to create its own special tribute. I realized much to my sorrow that I hadn’t done this film the justice it deserves. So I’m making up for it. I was waxing poetic with the title, taking it from a poem I had written a very long time ago. I’ve since lost it but somehow the title remained stuck in my head. This scene almost seemed like a visual poem of sorts. Many of the scenes in these films could be read as such, but this one more so.  I viewed this one as sort of a modern fairy tale: a lost soul trapped in the foreboding forest, being finally found by the forest’s guardian to come and protect him and they fall in love (It’s clear to see that one of them has played a trick on the other, cleverly hiding himself behind a tree, as well as the camera’s lens.  When he does show himself to his searching and worried friend, it almost feels as if he appeared out of nowhere, hence the ‘fairy tale’ idea.). There was a point in this scene where the sunlight placed a halo around them making them seem very much like angels. Well, aren’t all these beauties angels in their own way? 🙂

The music accompaniment over these clips was taken from a recent musical friend of mine, In The Darkness, from the German band,  Girls Under Glass taken from their amazing album, Xyklus. Just as I was taken aback by how beautifully dream-like this scene was, this music took me aback when I first heard it. I’ve been a fan of European synthpop, techno-Goth, darkwave and alternative music for a number of years. What struck me about this band was that it had a mix of all those genres, yet refused to be pigeon-holed into either one or the other. Their mix of guitar rhythms interlaced with synthesizers and percussion, made their sound quite unique within the genre. I thought this particular track would work well for this scene, a wonderful mix of fairy-tale whimsy and beautiful, graceful erotica. 


All video and music clips remain the sole property of their copyright holders and no copyright infringement was intended.

I believe I correctly ID’d the models in this scene, however if I happen to be in error and you know their correct identities, please correct me in a comment to this post.