I am trying, really trying, to understand Italian horror films. I watched DEEP RED and it was OK, so I decided to give Dario Argento another try and watched INFERNO this morning. I am totally confused now. OK, so the Three Mothers are death . . . what was up with the underwater chamber of bodies? Who was the hottie in the Italian music school with the cat on her lap, and why did we never see her again? Who was actually doing the killings, and why? Why did the rats attack the old man? Why did the hot dog vendor finish him off with a knife? Why was Mark simply knocked unconcscious in the first attack when the upstairs neighbor girl was killed? and most important . . . .WAS ARGENTO ON DRUGS WHEN HE FILMED THIS THING?
I'm . . . . . . . . so . . . . . . . . . . . . confused! (SOB!)
Quote from: indianasmith on August 09, 2007, 10:13:35 AM
I am trying, really trying, to understand Italian horror films. I watched DEEP RED and it was OK, so I decided to give Dario Argento another try and watched INFERNO this morning. I am totally confused now. OK, so the Three Mothers are death . . . what was up with the underwater chamber of bodies? Who was the hottie in the Italian music school with the cat on her lap, and why did we never see her again? Who was actually doing the killings, and why? Why did the rats attack the old man? Why did the hot dog vendor finish him off with a knife? Why was Mark simply knocked unconcscious in the first attack when the upstairs neighbor girl was killed? and most important . . . .WAS ARGENTO ON DRUGS WHEN HE FILMED THIS THING?
I'm . . . . . . . . so . . . . . . . . . . . . confused! (SOB!)
I can help out with some of this. The strange woman in the music school was Mater Lachrymarum (the Mother of Tears), who lives in Rome (her home is apparently located near where the female student was killed). Each of the mothers presumably has the power to control anybody or anything and use them/it to carry out a murder (In suspiria, mater suspiriorum (the mother of sighs) uses her powers to possess the body of Suzy Banyon's dead friend -
"Death is behind that door...") This would explain the rats and the hot dog vendor (the killer with the knife could have been anybody, though most certainly under Mater Lachrymarum's control). The old man was killed because he tried to kill the cats, who were the witches' familiars (presumably). The fact that Mark survived when the other girl got killed is puzzling, except that he was the main character, and killing him off would cut things a little short. The best explanation I can provide for the flooded basement is that it may simply have served as a dumping ground for victims who got too close to Tenebrarum's secret.
This should help explain more about Inferno and the three mothers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Mothers
As for your last question...the answer is most likely YES...you have to be at least a little stoned to come up with this stuff.
UPDATE: Wanted to clarify my original post.
Thanks man. Maybe now my brain won't explode.
From what I've gathered Suspiria and Inferno are based on an Italian fairy tale of sorts called The Three Mothers. Dario is actually filming (or has filmed, I don't know how far along they are) the 3rd part called The Mother of Tears.
Suspiria and Inferno are supposed to kind of represent what a nightmare feels like at times. When you have a nightmare, not much sometimes makes sense and things get pretty nonsensical at times. which is what Suspiria and Inferno get as well. But the actual stories are pretty simple when you really analyze them.
Is TENEBRAE part of the series? I think that's the name of one of the three, isn't it?
Quote from: indianasmith on August 09, 2007, 05:52:09 PM
Is TENEBRAE part of the series? I think that's the name of one of the three, isn't it?
Acctualy, its not part of the series. Tenebrae revolves around a series of murders and not the Three Mothers story.
Actually, a few weeks ago I tried showing Inferno to my mom and she only got to around the 30 minute mark. She said it was boring and was wondering why the woman carrying the letter didnt have her purse with her. I guess it takes a special type of person to appreciate this kind of movie.
Quote from: Torgo on August 09, 2007, 04:39:15 PM
From what I've gathered Suspiria and Inferno are based on an Italian fairy tale of sorts called The Three Mothers. Dario is actually filming (or has filmed, I don't know how far along they are) the 3rd part called The Mother of Tears.
Part of the inspiration was a prose poem called "Levana and our Ladies of Sorrow" By Thomas de Quincey. In the poem each of the mothers is roughly associated with a certain cause/type of death (Suspiriorum with rascism/predjudice, Tenebrarum with insanity, Lachrymarum with the death of children), although this isnt really present in the films. Also, Argento's girlfriend Daria Nicoladi (who co-wrote the scripts for the first two films, but only got credit for the first) based Suspiria on the real-life experiences of her grandmother, who claimed a music school she had attended as a girl was a front for occult practices.
I thought the samething about Inferno after watching it this morning. I didn't realize it was connected to Suspiria until I thought about it some more, and then it began to make at least a little more sense. I really enjoyed the film, but I think I like Suspiria a little more.
The thing you might find with Italian horror is that it can be, in some cases, more artsy than typical horror, especially in the case of Dario Argento or Lucio Fulci (less so on Fulci's behalf, but he still has some artsiness in him). Then you have Bruno Mattei, and that's just a whole other league there... I guess you could say he's the Ed Wood of Italian horror. I think the thing I always liked about Italian horror is the way it feels surreal, but nothing is really done to outright bend the reality of it. The surreal feeling comes mostly from the set design, the music, and the lighting, and maybe partially from the story.
I'm looking forward to the Mother of Tears, which is now in completed status. It's awaiting a release, and hopefully it'll hit the states sooner than some foreign films have been lately.
To me Italian filmmakers, particularly back in the good ol' days of the 70's/80's specialized in style-over-substance style filmmaking. They were the best at that IMO.
QuoteI don't get it!!!
There's really nothing to get. It's just a crappy movie. That being said, I also find it to be very enjoyably crappy. In fact, Inferno ties with Phenomena as my favorite Argento film (not like that's saying much).
I don't think old Dario's films are supposed to make sense. It's just all the most creepy things he can think of. Some of them work better than others, though.
I've told people about Suspiria and Inferno in particular that it's best to just not try to think too much while you're watching and to just sit back and the images just wash over you.
Quote from: Torgo on August 17, 2007, 10:39:33 PM
I've told people about Suspiria and Inferno in particular that it's best to just not try to think too much while you're watching and to just sit back and the images just wash over you.
Right on man, that's the best way to watch. That said, I've had this weird obcession with the three mothers ever since I became an Argento fan. It's cool how he can take a passage from a poem and build this whole mythology around it. (Thank God for this forum, or I'd have nobody to discuss it with)