Scott W. Davis
12-11-2003, 03:06 AM
This could be it, the news we have literally been waiting nearly a quarter century to hear. Dario Argento may at last be completing his Three Mothers trilogy.
There are three Mothers living in three ominous towers. The first resided in a ballet school that was a witch's coven in SUSPIRIA. The second was in a New York tenament building in INFERNO. And the third one? Well, it was supposed to be in Rome, and we may have even seen a glimpse of her in INFERNO. But the trilogy has remained incomplete since 1979.
Not that there hasn't been attempts. Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi made a campy unofficial follow-up in the eighties called THE BLACK CAT. On-again, off-again Argento collaborator Daria Nicolodi also reported writing a screenplay, but their strained relationship may prevent that one from being made.
But at last, Argento has kept his work. Dark Dreams is reporting that Argento was at the Trieste Film Festival, where he picked up a lifetime acheivement award. And it was there that he announced the final chapter in the Three Mothers trilogy, to be called simply THE THIRD MOTHER will be his next project.
"I'm working on the script for LA TERZA MADRE/THE THIRD MOTHER now," Argento told Alan Jones of Dark Dreams. "It's about mysticism, alchemy, terrorism and Gnosticism (a religious movement characterized by a belief in intuitive spiritual knowledge, regarded as a heresy by the Christian church). So many heretics were tortured because of the Church and I'm living all that at the moment and sleeping with difficulty."
"It will be set in Rome where we will first see the Mother of Tears/Mater Lachrymorum in medieval times. Because she is the most beautiful and cruel of the three mothers, I'm currently looking at Russian models to play that part. Ana Pieroni (who played the cat-stroking mother in INFERNO) will not be reappearing as she now has five kids! It's been over 20 years since I left the Three Mothers behind and it's good to go back and explore the story from a retrospective perspective. I'm discovering more about witchcraft than ever before."
Argento hopes the shoot the film in August for a release in 2005. A Hollywood studio may become involved, but we don't know right now.
Argento also had a lot of intriguing things to say about his next film, THE CARD DEALER, which is just weeks from it's first press screenings.
And what does Argento have to say about that proposed SUSPIRIA remake from the devil-spawned Dimension Films? "It will be shit but that won't be my fault," he said bluntly. And apparantly, he has reason to dismiss it. "I've read the script they've sent out to three directors and it's awful." Hey, told you. Don't look like such an odd man out for voting SUSPIRIA in our aging poll now, do I?
Still, this isn't a time to mourn. It's a time to rejoice. A new Argento film is ready to go and after that, the Three Mothers trilogy will finally be complete.
The original two films are just visual, dreamlike, non-linear pieces of brilliant that the final chapter could be just the thing to shake things up a bit. It's a horror lovers dream come true.
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If you aren't excited, you're already dead. Drool over the news in our FORUMS!
There are three Mothers living in three ominous towers. The first resided in a ballet school that was a witch's coven in SUSPIRIA. The second was in a New York tenament building in INFERNO. And the third one? Well, it was supposed to be in Rome, and we may have even seen a glimpse of her in INFERNO. But the trilogy has remained incomplete since 1979.
Not that there hasn't been attempts. Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi made a campy unofficial follow-up in the eighties called THE BLACK CAT. On-again, off-again Argento collaborator Daria Nicolodi also reported writing a screenplay, but their strained relationship may prevent that one from being made.
But at last, Argento has kept his work. Dark Dreams is reporting that Argento was at the Trieste Film Festival, where he picked up a lifetime acheivement award. And it was there that he announced the final chapter in the Three Mothers trilogy, to be called simply THE THIRD MOTHER will be his next project.
"I'm working on the script for LA TERZA MADRE/THE THIRD MOTHER now," Argento told Alan Jones of Dark Dreams. "It's about mysticism, alchemy, terrorism and Gnosticism (a religious movement characterized by a belief in intuitive spiritual knowledge, regarded as a heresy by the Christian church). So many heretics were tortured because of the Church and I'm living all that at the moment and sleeping with difficulty."
"It will be set in Rome where we will first see the Mother of Tears/Mater Lachrymorum in medieval times. Because she is the most beautiful and cruel of the three mothers, I'm currently looking at Russian models to play that part. Ana Pieroni (who played the cat-stroking mother in INFERNO) will not be reappearing as she now has five kids! It's been over 20 years since I left the Three Mothers behind and it's good to go back and explore the story from a retrospective perspective. I'm discovering more about witchcraft than ever before."
Argento hopes the shoot the film in August for a release in 2005. A Hollywood studio may become involved, but we don't know right now.
Argento also had a lot of intriguing things to say about his next film, THE CARD DEALER, which is just weeks from it's first press screenings.
And what does Argento have to say about that proposed SUSPIRIA remake from the devil-spawned Dimension Films? "It will be shit but that won't be my fault," he said bluntly. And apparantly, he has reason to dismiss it. "I've read the script they've sent out to three directors and it's awful." Hey, told you. Don't look like such an odd man out for voting SUSPIRIA in our aging poll now, do I?
Still, this isn't a time to mourn. It's a time to rejoice. A new Argento film is ready to go and after that, the Three Mothers trilogy will finally be complete.
The original two films are just visual, dreamlike, non-linear pieces of brilliant that the final chapter could be just the thing to shake things up a bit. It's a horror lovers dream come true.
--------
If you aren't excited, you're already dead. Drool over the news in our FORUMS!