Horror films, Italian style! That’s what Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni and Dario Argento do best, and the pair has teamed up again for an Italian thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat!
Completing the Circle
The Mother of Tears (La Madre Terza) is the third film of Dario Argento's supernatural horror trilogy. Suspiria began the trilogy back in 1977 followed by its 1980 sequel, Inferno. The Mother of tears depicts the confrontation with the final Mother, the witch known as Mater Lachrymarum.
The story centers on Sarah Mandy, played by Argento’s daughter, Asia. Sarah is an American student living in Rome studying art. Upon examination of an urn found at an ancient cemetery, she decides to open it and break the seal. In doing so, an ancient witch is reborn and Sarah’s whole world turns upside down. With the help of her deceased mother, played by her real-life mom, Daria Nicolodi, Sarah discover’s her own supernatural powers and musters up enough courage to confront the witch.
On the Set with Coralina
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni played a pivotal supporting role in the film. I recently caught up with her in New York City. She told me about her character, Giselle Maresand, and what it was like to shoot her own murder scene!
With many trilogies, you have to see the previous films to understand the final installment. Is this the case with Mother of Tears?
No. This movie is outrageously fantastic and stands on its own. The fans have been waiting 25 years for this movie, so it's such a big deal. I am very honored to be in it.
Tell me about your character in the film.
She's an assistant curator in a museum, and she convinces Asia’s character to open this urn, and with the opening of this urn, she basically allows these fantastic, magical and tragic events to take off. (Beware of a plot spoiler here) I get brutally killed and I must tell you that everyone is saying it's the top death scene in the movie, so I'm happy!
What was it like filming that scene? What goes into a scene like that?
Well, unfortunately, a lot of it got cut because Dario didn't like the demons killing me. He just didn't like how they looked, which saddens me a little bit. When I shot it, it took about a take and a half. We had to stop because the blood was too much! The music was so powerful. We had a recording of an amazing chant along with dim lights in a real museum in Torino. I had these three demonic monsters coming at me, but they were not actually actors, so I was a little concerned. They couldn’t see very well because of the dim lights. They were dealing with knives and tools; all the mechanisms to kill me. So I thought this is truly my end! But they were great and it worked out fine. I know that people walked off the set, though, because they thought it was too much. My death was tragic, and there's something so sad and tragic I find about death. When I'm dying on set like I did in Demons 2 or Opera, I feel how sad it must be to go. Maybe we don't know when we're dying that it's sad, but these characters for me were so human. It's the same with monsters like Frankenstein, Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera; those tragic, romantic characters. So I really try to give some humanity to the characters.
What was it like working with Asia? Well, I've worked with her three times. She's like a sister. She says the same about me and I'm very honored. We don't see each other that much, but we have something very akin. We have similar backgrounds, we grew up in the arts, we have a very strong relationship with our fathers; very unique and unusual. She's always been so respectful to me and I have a lot of respect for her. I always say this over and over again; she's such a hard worker. She keeps up her name. She doesn't take it for granted, and that's what I admire about her.
I read that you've been called the "Queen of Scream".
Yes, the “Queen of Scream”! I say that so many little girls want to become princesses and I became a queen! So, I can't complain, right!
The first two films of Dario Argento’s trilogy are available on DVD. Mother of Tears is expected to be on DVD by the end of the year.
In addition to her acting, Coralina is also a talented artist and singer/songwriter. For more information about her work, you can visit her online at www.coralina.net.
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