We all know the story. Virginal girl, pure and sweet, trapped in the body of a swan. She desires freedom but only true love can break the spell. Her wish is nearly granted in the form of a prince, but before he can declare his love, her lustful twin, the black swan, tricks and seduces him. Devastated, the white swan leaps off a cliff, killing herself and, in death, finds freedom.

Black Swan (2010) dir. Darren Aronofsky

The Handmaiden (2016) dir. Park Chan-wook

My Winnipeg (2007) Directed by Guy Maddin

FILMS IN 2023: → Il Mare (2000) — dir. Lee Seung Hyun

“Sueño con él y él sueña conmigo. Me mira, me conoce la espalda. Mira lo que escribiste, policía. Escribiste la nieve y los caballos. Me escribiste a mí. Ya no sientes ni el frío.”

Neruda (2016), dir. Pablo Larraín | DoP Sergio Armstrong

Curtains (1983) dir. Richard Ciupka

PATTIE BOYD in A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (1964)          “The train took us to Cornwall and back, not that I remember much of the scenery. I spent most of the day watching the action, chatting to everyone during breaks, and waiting to do my bit. The Beatles were so funny together, so quick-witted, and their laughter was infectious. I couldn’t understand half of what they said because of the thick Liverpudlian accent – a revelation to me, I’d never heard anything like it. It was impossible to be in their company and not be helpless with laughter.          On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute, and George, with velvet brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best-looking man I’d ever seen. At the break for lunch I found myself sitting next to him, whether by accident or design I have never been sure. We were both shy and spoke hardly a word to each other, but being close to him was electrifying.          As the train neared London and the filming was winding down, I felt sad that such a magical day was ending. It had been pure joy and I wanted to capture it forever. As if George had known what I was thinking, he said, “Will you marry me?”” – Pattie Boyd

The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami, 1999)

Miriam Hopkins and Claudette Colbert in The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) directed by Ernst Lubitsch.

AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (1987) dir. Louis Malle

BEN WHISHAW Interviewed for Port Magazine (April. 2024) Photographed by CHIESKA FORTUNE SMITH

Noémie Merlant as Marianne in Portrait of a Lady on Fire | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (2019) | dir. Céline Sciamma

Babettes gæstebud (Babette’s Feast), dir. Gabriel Axel, 1987.

La belle et la bête (1946) dir. Jean Cocteau

The Night of the Hunter, dir. Charles Laughton, 1955.

Are you mad? Is that why you’re crying?

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) dir. by Kim Jee-woon 

I am not hiding behind my canvas. I am living in it. — SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (1984) by Stephen Sondheim