La terza madre (2007)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Jace Anderson (writer)
Dario Argento (writer)

Release Date:

31 October 2007 (Italy)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

What you see does not exist. What you cannot see is truth.

Plot:

Part three of the "Three Mothers" trilogy which takes place in Rome and has to do with Mater Lachrymarum (The Third Mother).

Plot Keywords:

Witch | Power | Fear | Demon | Supernatural

Cast

Asia Argento	...	Sarah Mandy
Cristian Solimeno	...	Detective Enzo Marchi
Adam James	...	Michael Pierce
Moran Atias	...	Mater Lachrymarum
Valeria Cavalli	...	Marta Colussi
Philippe Leroy	...	Guglielmo De Witt
Daria Nicolodi	...	Elisa Mandy
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni	...	Giselle Mares
Udo Kier	...	Father Johannes
Robert Madison	...	Detective Lissoni
Jun Ichikawa	...	Katerina
Tommaso Banfi	...	Father Milesi
Paolo Stella	...	Julian
Clive Riche	...	Man in Overcoat
Massimo Sarchielli	...	The Hobo

Also Known As:

Exhumed (USA) (working title)
Mother of Tears (USA)
Mother of Tears: The Third Mother (International: English title)
The Third Mother (Italy) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

USA:102 min (unrated version) | Canada:98 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | Argentina:90 min (DVD version)

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:18 (cut) | Australia:R | Argentina:18 | Italy:VM18 (cinema rating) | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Film Commission Torino-Piemonte

Trivia:

Daria Nicolodi and Asia Argento are mother and daughter in real life.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bewitched mother is on the bridge and drops the baby off the side you can see the dummy baby hit the side of the bridge and the dummies hand fly off of it and splash into the water beside the dummy's body.

Quotes:

Mater Lacrimarum: Who wants to eat the girl?

Movie Connections:

References Inferno (1980)

Argento completes his Three Mothers Trilogy in gory style!

Being such a big fan of Argento, I went into this film with a mixture of massive anticipation and worry that it might not live up to my expectations. With the exception of Sleepless, Argento hasn't made a really great film since Opera in 1987, and while I wouldn't quite call the final instalment of the 'Three Mothers' series a return to form, it's certainly a lot better than the majority of his modern movies. The thing that really made the first two films in this series standout was the colourful sets and fairytale atmosphere, and unfortunately this film features neither. I have no idea if Argento decided to discard these things in favour of a modern setting or if it was the producers who were worried that a seventies style film wouldn't sell, but either way; it doesn't feature here and that's the thing I liked least about this film. The film is slightly more story-heavy than the two previous entries and this time we have more of a clearly defined point. The story is set in Rome and our central character is Sarah Mandy. The film kicks off with the discovery of an ancient urn, and from there strange things start happening. Rape, assault and arson increases and strange people start to gather in Rome. These events are due to the return of Mater Lacrimarum, the most beautiful of the three witches at the heart of this series. It soon becomes apparent that the only person who can stop the evil from enveloping the world is Sarah Mandy, who has a few supernatural powers of her own...

As mentioned, it's the change in style that is the biggest problem with this film for me and the thing that really means it doesn't quite live up to the previous two instalments, but what the film lacks in atmosphere, Argento makes up for in gore (and then some) and it's clear that the great director has lost none of his eye for a brutal and stylish death scene. This film is far gorier than the sum of the gore scenes in both of the previous films, and it's great to see a modern film that doesn't hold back. The gore scenes range from quick to stylised and drawn out but all are very gory - with one notable exception which also happens to be the most shocking sequence in the film! Argento has donned the use of CGI and it's a bit of a shame because it looks rather cheap - but that's only a problem really in one scene. Argento films are not known for fluent plots and great acting, and there's a very good reason for that. This film has more than just a few holes and the acting is not anything to write home about either. As is the case with a lot of his modern films, Argento has cast his daughter, Asia Argento in the lead role. She's beautiful and not a bad actress - but Argento always makes her roles too 'clean', and it doesn't suit her considering the Hellraiser she is in real life! I also didn't like the supernatural subplot with her character; it's just sort of thrown in there and doesn't work very well. Argento makes more of an attempt to establish his mythology with this film than in the previous two and he even makes nods to the first two, though I think more could be made of this aspect of the series. The ending is abrupt but nicely done if you ask me. Overall, I did like The Third Mother a lot - it's only disappointing when compared to the other two films. In its own right; this is a great gory Italian horror flick and definitely comes recommended.