Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but can anyone tell me why there is a relationship between the main character and a maiden, a mother and a crone?
Are there any other films where the main character comes across these three witches?
I think you're reading a lot into that. Besides, who's the crone- Celia Imrie's character? That's a little harsh- she's looking very good, there- hardly Grandmother Mountain!
In a way, none of the women are right for those roles.
Let's see:
Sandra: hardly a 'maid'- sexually active with both the copper, and Colin- at some point- we must assume, being man and wife!
By the end, she's learned enough to be proto-crone, and is as lost and alone as a child left behind. She's going to have to start again- rebirth for her as much as for Colin.
Mandy: a mother, yes, by default of having a child. But with a more aged soul- tired and bored. By the end, Colin's gentle influence has brought out her child, too.
Sarah: child- perhaps the most 'maid'-ly of the lot, yet with an unearthly crone-like wisdom and world-weariness. She's still not as liberated as her mum by the end, but she is smiling again- learning, perhaps, that a crone is wide through living life, not watching it pass by.
Sonja: the wise lady of the hills, surrounded by children not her own. A guardian figure- a mother-not-mother and a maid. If she’s a crone, then she’s one that’s not entirely crone-like yet. More obviously, she’s close, but mostly she’s calm, as un-flicked water in a pool- a clarity normally associated with maid.
It's more Colin's journey- recapturing his youth and sense of self from a stagnation. Maybe it’s him that’s journeying maid-mother-crone, and back to maid again, with all he’s learned along the way remembered.
Perhaps because it's a quiet but huge journey of the soul, set in such lovely natural surroundings, with little touches of magic here and there- the brownies' decoration-by-leaf being the most obvious- that made you think that way?
And why darkness? Darkness is safe- sleep, protection.
I think you may have something there walks_on_water, but I also agree with Lovelight, I don't necessarily sense that the maid-mother-crone theme is dark. The story did, however, give me the sense of watching a fairy tale. (Colin in the beginning is sort of a classic simpleton, and the coincidences seem a little *too* coincidental to happen in real life! Still, I love this movie, and Michael Sheen develops the character perfectly, making him thoroughly believable as he reaches his destination and achieves his unexpected "quest.")
In regards to the "maid," I think the poster may be referring to the surly daughter, Ebony, with whom Colin develops a friendship.
As for the "crone," I would vote for Celia Imrie, not because she's withered and ugly but in a positive sense of being older and wiser.
What do you think?
~~~
"I never drink ... wine."
David Warner for Scrimgeour in Harry Potter 6!
maid-mother-crone... interchanchable, really- although necessary if the idea of a fairy-tale fable is followed through. Such a combination; innocence, vitality/ sexuality and experience are rather required components in such a story form!
I like the idea, Suky. Most fables and tales follow the idea of a quest- moving forward, learning as we go; a common theme, especially for fables that also include an element of growing up. This film certainly shows a man maturing more into a sense of his own worth and self.
If there's darkness, it's not to be feared; we all come from the womb into the light; from the matriarchal into the patriarchal; night becomes day. Sweet, velvet darkness should be welcomed, understood, and allowed it's due time and no more, as should uncompromising light. Ignorance only makes for fear and violence.