FEATURE: What if...Anna Manni got a trilogy?

 By Stephen Pytak

What if...Anna Manni got a trilogy?

It's something I thought about while driving around early this morning. It's not every day I come up with an idea to rewrite a couple of films made by Italian horror master Dario Argento. And I thought I'd share my thoughts on how I'd improve the cinematic journey of one of Argento's more intriguing protagonists, and, in the process, attempt to fix one of the biggest missteps of his career. 

Which one?

We'll get to that.

No. Maybe it's best to reveal that now at the start of this ramble, so the reader has some idea what the point of all this is?

O.K. Fine.

In 2007, Argento unveiled the final entry in his Three Mothers Trilogy. It was called La Terza Madre (The Mother of Tears). And while the film has a neat twist here and there and some memorable moments, it left many of Argento's hardcore fans cold.

While I'm not used to writing fan fiction, I came up with a pitch to make The Mother of Tears a little more interesting.

Honestly, I'd like to see Detective Anna Manni as that film's protagonist. And, needless to say, it would require an entirely new story. 

So, who's Anna Manni anyway?

She's the lead character in Argento's film The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) and she was portrayed by his daughter, actress Asia Argento.

Asia Argento as "Det. Anna Manni" in Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome (1996).

Manni is a police detective in Venice who suffers from a psychosomatic disorder which gives her hallucinations when she gazes upon works of art. 

She's kind of like James Stewart's character in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). She has a condition which makes her see the world a little bit differently. Sometimes it gives her unique insight. And sometimes it knocks her for a loop. 

While hunting a serial rapist and killer named Alfredo Grossi (played by Thomas Kretchmann), she suffers a great deal of psychological trauma. And in an unusual way, this disorder of hers helps her survive.

But it also turns her into a villain. 

She becomes so obsessed with Grossi, she ultimately becomes very much like him. 

Dario Argento had planned to have the character return in another film, to be titled "In The Dark" I believe. But for whatever reason his daughter Asia decided not to do a sequel. So Dario Argento and his crew reworked that script and made a very cool police thriller called The Card Player (2004).

The action was moved to Rome. "Det. Anna Manni" became "Det. Anna Mari" and actress Stefania Rocca was hired to play the part.

The chance of "Det. Anna Manni" having a trilogy at this point was more that likely zilch. But the point of this feature is just to discuss a fun idea, a what-if scenario. So I have to discuss the films I'd include in the trilogy I envisioned for her. And The Card Player would be part two. 

The plot of The Card Player (2004) puts our heroine, "Det. Anna Mari," up against a serial killer who kidnaps women, ties them up and gags them, then employs a webcam and invites the local police to play a game.

What game?

Internet poker. If the dealer wins, the cops have to watch the gagged victims get stabbed to death. 

While some Argento fans aren't too crazy about The Card Player, I really like the film. And I do see it as a sequel to The Stendhal Syndrome (1996), even though Asia Argento isn't in it. However, Stefania Rocca is totally awesome!

A few years after the release of The Card Player, Dario Argento decided to wrap up The Three Mothers Trilogy. And his daughter, Asia, decided to take the lead role in that 2007 film.

In The Mother of Tears, Asia Argento plays "Sarah Mandi," a student studying art restoration in Rome. I like how art is incorporated into the story. It reminds me of The Stendhal Syndrome already.

Anyway, she gets the chance to examine artifacts which was unearthed, attached to the body of a 19th century church official. They include an urn containing items which belonged to Mater Lachrymarum, the last surviving member of The Three Mothers.

And before you know it, a few demonic agents show up. They cause some chaos and steal one of those items, a tunic. And they deliver it to La Terza Madre.

As Rome descends into chaos, Sarah learns she is a powerful white witch. And she decides the only way to save the day is to find The Mother of Tears and take away her power by destroying the relic.

It's serviceable, I guess. 

While I don't have all the answers, I think it would have been interesting if Dario Argento had the chance to further develop the troubled detective character he introduced to us in The Stendhal Syndrome (1996). I would have liked to see Anna Manni officially return to face off with The Card Player. And I think it would been neat to cap off her trilogy by going up against what would have been her greatest foe, The Mother of Tears. 

No. I wouldn't have made Anna Manni a white witch.

But she knows a thing or two about impersonation and the world of art, a dangerous place at times.

I don't think there would have been a happy ending.

But I think it would have been a much more satisfying one.