The Three Mothers
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The Three Mothers is a planned trilogy of supernatural horror films by Italian film director Dario Argento. It consists of 1977's Suspiria, 1980's Inferno and the upcoming 2007 film The Third Mother.
Each film deals with one of the three titular "Mothers", ancient and evil witches whose powerful magic allows them to manipulate world events on a global scale.
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[edit] Inspiration
The idea of "Three Mothers" comes from "Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow", a section of Thomas de Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis. The piece asserts that just as there are three Fates and Graces, there are also three Sorrows. They include Mater Lachrymarum (Our Lady of Tears), Mater Suspiriorum (Our Lady of Sighs), and Mater Tenebrarum (Our Lady of Darkness). The attribute of each woman (tears, sighs, shadows/darkness) is a direct translation of her name from Latin. (Mater being the Latin word for "mother".)
Suspiria clearly derives its title from the woman delineated in de Quincey's work. However, Inferno's title does not reference Mater Tenebrarum. Thus, Argento's 1982 film Tenebrae is sometimes mistaken as the second installment in the trilogy.
[edit] The Three Mothers
The Three Mothers "rule the world"[1] from their enchanted, bastion-like homes. The residences are so corrupt that eventually the land they're built on will become pestilential. (An unpleasant, bittersweet smell of evil already pervades the surrounding areas.) The women commissioned E. Varelli, an Italian architect based in London, to design and construct these stately buildings. According to his book, The Three Mothers, Varelli learned too late of the women's pernicious nature. At least five copies of the book are known to have existed. Four may have been destroyed at the end of Inferno.
Both Mater Suspiriorum and Tenebrarum have claimed that the Mothers are Death personified.
[edit] Mater Suspiriorum
Mater Suspiriorum, the Mother of Sighs, is the oldest of the Three Mothers. Her given name is Helena Markos. She was also known as the The Black Queen. The actress who portrayed Markos in Suspiria was uncredited. According to Jessica Harper, "the witch was a ninety-year-old ex-hooker Dario had found on the streets of Rome."[2]
Markos, a Greek émigré, was exiled from many European countries and had written several books on a variety of arcane subjects. In 1895 she founded the Tanz Akademie, a school for dance and the occult sciences, in the Black Forest outside Freiburg, Germany. The locals feared her, having intuited that she was a witch. As Markos' wealth grew so did suspicions about her true nature. To avert this unwanted scrutiny, she faked her own death in a fire in 1905. Control of the academy, which became solely a ballet school, was said to have gone to Markos' prize pupil. In reality, this was Markos herself.
In Suspiria Markos is the Directress whose presence her coven, headed by Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett), attempts to conceal. A young American, Susy Banyon (Jessica Harper), discovered the hidden chambers beneath the school after several pupils were killed by Markos' proxies. The aged witch attempted to use her magic to kill the girl, but her powers — including that of invisibility, illusion casting, and telekinesis — proved insufficient due to her enfeebled state. Banyon defeated Markos by stabbing her through the neck. The witch's death caused the foundations of her home and coven to fail.
[edit] Mater Tenebrarum
Mater Tenebrarum, the Mother of Darkness/Shadows, is the youngest and most cruel of the Three Mothers. Her true name is not given; her home is located in New York City and was christened in 1910. The house's number is 49.
In Inferno the character is portrayed by Veronica Lazar. She masquerades as Professor Arnold's nurse for much of the film. At the climax, Mark Elliot (Leigh McCloskey) descends into the bowels of her burning home. He learns that Arnold is in fact the architect Varelli, and essentially Tenebrarum's slave. When Elliot comes across her, Tenebrarum laments cryptically that "It's all going to burn down... just like before."[1] After sealing the room she laughs psychotically, makes an ambiguous speech, and disappears. However, her reflection remains in a mirror and bursts out moments later as Death. Elliot flees the room by breaking down the door. In the final scene of the film, the skeletal Tenebrarum appears to perish in the flames of her crumbling home.
[edit] Mater Lachrymarum
Mater Lachrymarum, the Mother of Tears, is the most beautiful of the Three Mothers. Like Tenebrarum, her true name is unknown. Inferno suggest that her home in Rome, Italy may be located near No. 49 Via Dei Bagni - the Abertny Foundation's Biblioteca Filosofica - when Sara (Eleonara Giorgi) notices a strange smell in the air.
In Inferno Lachrymarum attempted to spellbind Mark Elliot during a music lecture in Rome. According to Argento, "Ana Pieroni will not be reappearing [as Lachrymarum in The Third Mother], as she now has five kids!"[3]
Lachrymarum will be portrayed by Israeli actress Moran Atias in The Third Mother[4], although Argento had originally been looking for a Russian model to play the part[3]. Like the other Mothers, Lachrymarum's appearance in the film will be relatively brief.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Inferno. Dir. Dario Argento. Perf. Irene Miracle, Leigh McCloskey, Daria Nicolodi, and Alida Valli. 1980. DVD. Anchor Bay Entertainment. April 25, 2000.
- ^ Jones, Alan. Profondo Argento: The Man, The Myths And The Magic. Godalming, UK: FAB Press, 2004. Page 91. ISBN 1-903-25423-X
- ^ a b c "Argento to raise THE THIRD MOTHER", Fangoria, 2003-12-09.
- ^ Jones, Alan. "La terza madre", Dark Dreams, 2006-11-17.
| Films | Suspiria (1977) • Inferno (1980) • The Third Mother (2007) |
| Soundtracks | Suspiria (1977) • Inferno (1981) • The Third Mother (2007) |
[edit] External links
- Suspiria at the Internet Movie Database
- Inferno at the Internet Movie Database
- The Third Mother at the Internet Movie Database
