The Three Mothers 5793872 225868714 2008-07-15T19:53:02Z Rich Farmbrough 82835 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225868576 by [[Special:Contributions/Rich Farmbrough|Rich Farmbrough]] ([[User talk:Rich Farmbrough|talk]])Copyedit. {{Infobox Film | name = The Three Mothers<BR>Le Tre madri | image = Haus zum Walfisch 2.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = "Zum Walfisch" ("The Whale" in [[German language|German]]), a famous building in [[Freiburg]], served as one of the witches' homes in ''[[Suspiria]]''. | director = [[Dario Argento]] | producer = [[Claudio Argento]] | writer = [[Dario Argento]], [[Daria Nicolodi]], [[Jace Anderson]], [[Adam Gierasch]] | music = [[Goblin (band)|Goblin]], [[Keith Emerson]], [[Claudio Simonetti]] | released = | runtime = | country = [[Italy]], [[United States]] | language = [[English language|English]] }} '''''The Three Mothers''''' ('''''Le Tre madri''''' in [[Italian language|Italian]]) is a [[trilogy]] of supernatural [[horror film]]s by [[Italian people|Italian]] [[film director]] [[Dario Argento]]. It consists of 1977's ''[[Suspiria]]'', 1980's ''[[Inferno (1980 film)|Inferno]]'' and the 2007 film ''[[The Mother of Tears]]''. Each film deals with one of the titular "Mothers", a [[triumvirate]] of ancient and evil [[witch]]es whose powerful magic allows them to manipulate world events on a global scale. During the 2007 [[Toronto International Film Festival]], Argento stated he had not ruled out the possibility of shooting a fourth film dealing with the Three Mothers.<ref name=4thfilm>{{cite news | url=http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/9850 | title=TIFF: Dario Argento Teases 'Fourth Mother' Film! | date=2007-09-09 | publisher=Bloody-Disgusting.com}}</ref> His daughter [[Asia Argento|Asia]] "joked" that one day there might be a prequel.<ref name=4thfilm/> ==The Three Mothers== The story of the Three Mothers begins at the dawn of the 11th century, when three sisters created the pernicious art of [[witchcraft]] on the coast of the [[Black Sea]].<ref name=espresso>{{cite journal |last=Codacci-Pisanelli |first=Angiola |year=2007 |month=5 April |title=Bella Strega d'Argento |journal=L'Espresso |volume= |issue= |pages= |id= |url= |accessdate=2007-04-11}}</ref> In the years that followed, they wandered the world and amassed great personal wealth and power, leaving only death in their wake. In the late 19th century the women commissioned E. Varelli, an Italian architect based in [[London]], to design and construct three stately buildings. From these enchanted, bastion-like homes the Three Mothers "[[World domination|rule the world]]".<ref name=inferno>''Inferno''. Dir. Dario Argento. Perf. Irene Miracle, Leigh McCloskey, Daria Nicolodi, and Alida Valli. 1980. DVD. [[Anchor Bay Entertainment]]. April 25, 2000.</ref> According to Varelli's memoirs, entitled ''The Three Mothers'' by an anonymous colleague, the architect learned too late of the women's evil nature. (At least six copies of the book are known to have existed. Four may have been destroyed at the end of ''Inferno''.) The residences he designed will become so corrupted that eventually the land they were built on will become pestilential. An unpleasant, bittersweet smell of evil already pervades the area surrounding Mater Tenebrarum's home. Both Mater Suspiriorum and Tenebrarum have claimed that the Mothers are [[Death (personification)|Death personified]]. ===Mater Suspiriorum=== [[Image:Helenamarkos.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The wizened Markos, slain in the hidden lair beneath her school.]] '''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 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."<ref name=profondo>Jones, Alan. ''Profondo Argento: The Man, The Myths And The Magic''. Godalming, UK: FAB Press, 2004. Page 91. ISBN 1-903-25423-X</ref> 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 ("Dance Academy" in [[German language|German]]), a school for dance and the occult sciences, in the [[Black Forest]] outside [[Freiburg|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. (The Akademie bears a plaque stating that [[Desiderius Erasmus]] once lived there.) In ''Suspiria'' Markos is the Directress whose presence is concealed by her coven, headed by Madame Blanc ([[Joan Bennett]]). A young American, Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper), discovers the hidden chambers beneath the school after several pupils are killed by Markos' proxies. The aged witch attempts to use her magic to kill the girl, but her powers — including those of [[invisibility]], illusion casting, and [[telekinesis]] — prove insufficient due to her enfeebled state. Banyon defeats Markos by stabbing her through the neck. The witch's death causes the foundations of her home and coven to fail. In ''The Mother of Tears'' it is revealed that before the events of ''Suspiria'' Elisa Mandy ([[Daria Nicolodi]]), a [[white witch]], sought to challenge Markos' evil might. The two battled in Freiburg, and Markos slew both Elisa and her husband. However, Elisa was able to weaken Suspiriorum into the hag-like state she appeared in in ''Suspiria''.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Their daughter Sarah would later defeat Mater Lacrimarum in Rome. ===Mater Tenebrarum=== [[Image:Inferno-lazar.jpg|thumb|right|200px|"Your journey has come to an end. Everything around you will become dark, and someone will take your hand."]] '''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 and bears a plaque that states that [[G. I. Gurdjieff|Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff]] once resided there. 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."<ref name=inferno/> 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. ===Mater Lachrimarum=== [[Image:InfernoCap.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The music student (Ania Pieroni) in ''Inferno'' was, in reality, Lachrimarum.]] [[Image:MaterLacMoran.png|thumb|right|200px|Moran Atias portrays Mater Lachrimarum in ''The Mother of Tears''.]] '''Mater Lachrimarum''', 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 ([[Eleonora Giorgi]]) notices a strange smell in the air. In ''The Mother of Tears'' Lachrimarum's home is revealed to be the [[Palazzo]] Varelli. In ''Inferno'' Lachrimarum attempted to spellbind Mark Elliot during a music lecture in Rome. According to Argento, [[Ania Pieroni]] did not return to reprise her role as Lachrimarum in ''The Mother of Tears'' because "she now has five kids!"<ref name=fan-dec9>{{cite news | url=http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=1746 | title=Argento to raise THE THIRD MOTHER | date=2003-12-09 | publisher=[[Fangoria (magazine)|Fangoria]]}}</ref> Lachrimarum is portrayed by Israeli actress [[Moran Atias]] in ''The Mother of Tears''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.darkdreams.org/la_terza_madre.html|title= La terza madre|date=2006-11-17|first=Alan|last=Jones|publisher=Dark Dreams}}</ref> The witch has been hibernating for centuries in Rome, and is awakened when Sarah Mandy ([[Asia Argento]]) opens the urn in which her most powerful relic, a red tunic, is stored. As her minions wreak havoc on the city above, Lachrimarum hides below ground in the catacombs of her Palazzo, regaining her strength. She is defeated when Sarah Mandy discovers her subterranean lair and rips and burns her tunic, causing the Palazzo to collapse. Lachrimarum is killed when an ornamental [[obelisk]] from the top of the building crashes into the ceremonial chamber, impaling her. ==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 [[Moirae|Fates]] and [[Charites|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).<!-- Note: The spelling of "Lachrimarum" varies within this article intentionally. Argento uses "i" but de Quincey spells it with a "y". Please do not change, for factual accuracy, the two different versions to a uniform spelling. --> 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 (film)|Tenebrae]]'' is sometimes mistaken as the second installment in the trilogy. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{imdb title|id=0076786|title=Suspiria}} *{{imdb title|id=0080923|title=Inferno}} *{{imdb title|id=0804507|title=La Terza madre}} {{Three Mothers trilogy}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Mothers, The}} [[Category:Horror films by series]] [[Category:Italian horror films]] [[Category:Films directed by Dario Argento]] [[it:Le Tre Madri]]