Film/Series recommendation

Hello,

Could anyone recommend some great Spanish-speaking movies?

I personally love Almodóvar but I’ve already seen (almost) all his movies - which I highly recommend to anyone who is into Spanish learning or is a movie fan.

And please, do not say “La casa de papel”, I gave it a go and although the first episodes were promising, I found the others too long, incoherent and overly dramatic.

Gracias!
:rose:

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I watched Contratiempo (The Invisible Guest in English) a few weeks ago and it was excellent! Its set in Spain and the Spanish is very fast, but eventually I got used to it and was happy that I understood quite a bit without the subtitles!

It’s on Netflix. Check it out!

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I totally agree with you on Casa de papel, I never really got into it. There’s a series on Netflix called Elite, which isn’t really the best content-wise, but the actors are all super hot (yes, I do pay attention to this, shame on me) and the language was pretty easy to follow. It’s basically about rich kids who sabotage their lives for lack of anything else to complain about - true teen drama.

I also saw there is a new series called Criminal, also on Netflix, which has four parts in English, German, French and Spanish. I’ve watched the German part already and it’s really captivating. If you like detective/crime stories, give it a shot :female_detective:

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Ohhhh there are so many good movies from Latin America that are just the best!

The first one and my last favourite one was this amazing Argentinian/Spanish movie called “Wild Tales” I recommend that movie to everyone! It is quite something :smiley:

And in the same category maybe: El secreto de sus ojos.

After that I would recommend Luis Buñuel films like: El ángel exterminador or Ensayo de un crimen.
If you are into something more metaphysical maybe I would go towards Alejandro Jodorowsky’s films like La montaña sagrada or El topo. And a great documentary but probably mostly in English “Jodorowsky’s Dune”.

And something very classic with luchadores from México in the 70’s: Las momias de Guanajuato hahaha it’s a-mazing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208306/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2

Other films:
Diarios de Motocicleta
Amores Perros
Roma
Y tu mamá también
El día de la bestia
Mar adentro
Rec

There are so many! :smiley:

But yes, please Relatos salvajes first haha.

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I can recommend some Argentinian movies I love:

Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens)
It’s a crime drama starring Ricardo Darín, one of my all-time favorite Argentinian actors. The plot is super well-written, and it keeps you excited and engaged throughout the whole movie.

El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret in her eyes)
It’s probably the most famous one because it won an Oscar, but it’s also excellent and lower-paced, which is perhaps easier to follow in the original language.

Esperando la Carroza (Waiting for the Hearse)
It’s a cult film and a must-see! A great (black) comedy with a lot of hilarious, unfortunately also fast dialogues. The good thing is that it’s on youtube.

Let me know if you watched them and liked them!

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Amazing, thanks everyone. Now I have multiple good reasons to stay home and cozy on my sofa over the winter :snowflake:

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@GeraldineMC, this is going to be a long post! I love watching movies, I’m such a movie buff!
Ok, let’s start:

  • El hijo de la novia - one of the most heartfelt and moving movies I’ve ever seen. It’s my go-to-movie when I’m feeling a bit down.
  • 9 reinas - this movie shows how creative Argentinians are when conning people, amazing! There’s also the American version with Diego Luna, John C. Reilly and Maggie Gyllenhaal. But in my opinion, the original is much better! And you could never replace Ricardo Darín :star_struck:.
  • Relatos salvajes - this one’s really crazy! I couldn’t stop laughing or being shocked all the time. It’s divided into 6 different stories and one is more shocking than the other! I really recommend it, it’s superb! Almodovar is one of the producers as well! If you do watch it, please comment on Darin’s extraordinary scene when he’s got to pay a ridiculous fine for parking in the wrong place. OMG, the way he looses his temper!
  • Gloria - who says life stops being wild after you turn 60? Gloria, a recently divorced woman, looks for adventure and finds out that life is just as complicated with 60 as it was with 30, but it’s just more liberating now!
  • Los amantes del círculo polar - one of the most beautiful and tragic love stories! The Spanish director, Julio Medem, is known for his twisted, but mindblowing stories: La ardilla roja, Lucía y el sexo, Ma ma, etc.
  • Elsa y Fred - a very cute and funny love story between two elderly people :slight_smile:
  • 7 cajas - a masterpiece! This might actually be one of my favourite movies! It’s Paraguayan, so the way the characters speak it’s a mixture between Guaraní and Spanish, which is called yopará. This movie has everything you need: action, humor, love, social critique… It’s a very round, very complete movie. Hollywood movies don’t have anything on it!

I could keep writing and writing, but what about you tell me what kind of movies you like or what mood you’re in and I recommend you something to watch?

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Wow, @andreacoyotzi, great recommendations! Great minds think alike :face_with_hand_over_mouth:.

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@andreacoyotzi @stefanierambow Ok, I’ll definitely watch Relatos salvajes, seems like you both agree on this one :smile:

@stefanierambow I can watch pretty much everything but horror movies and I’m especially attentive to the writing - if it’s bad I probably won’t like the movie. Otherwise I like everything: independant movies, action movies, comedies, romcom, thriller movies and sci-fi/fantastic movies.

To give you an idea, my favorite movie is The Goonies :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks for the long list!

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Ok, @GeraldineMC, I recommend Abre los ojos by Alejandro Amenábar. It’s a superb psychological thriller! It has Penélope Cruz in it, I just love her!

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Series
La Casa de las flores - súper funny and entertaining
Monarca
Club de Cuervos

Movies
Cásese quien pueda
Perfectos Desconocidos- very entertaining movie showing the disadvantages of todays technology
Nosotros los Nobles
Que culpa tiene el niño - HILARIOUS
Roma - Oscar winner 2019

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Be aware that every Spanish Speaking country has its own way of speaking, even dialect, as it is the common Spanish in Chile.
So, Almodóvar is awesome for Spanish from Spain. Probably, El Secreto de sus Ojos from Argentina, Machuca from Chile, La Estrategia del Caracol and Saluda al Diablo de mi Parte from Colombia, Amores Perros and Roma from México, would have a more or less neutral Spanish from each of those countries.

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I love all the recomendations!

And I totally agree with Relatos Salvajes , it’s a must ! :joy::joy::joy:

But oh well, I also have to add one that I consider it is a Cult film.
It will make you fall in love…Or not :grin:.

The Dark Side of the Heart :heart:
Spanish: El lado oscuro del corazón.

Have fun !

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Of course the first thing I thought about was Casa da Papel - I have to say I really loved it :rofl: but we all have different tastes, right :wink: I don’t really watch movies to learn Spanish, because I never really have that much time, but here are some other ideas.

A good place for free series is rtve.es I watched a series there called ‘Misterios de Laura’. It’s a Spanisch series about a divorced detective - Laura - with twins who has a good looking sidekick (eye candy for us ladies) and as the name implies, she solves mysteries. Subtitles are available, at least in Spanish.

Something else I enjoy - from the learners point of view - is ‘Ahora Caigo’. It’s a game show, something I would never watch in English or German. It’s terribly loud and silly, but great to learn new phrases or vocab. I use atresplayer.com - also a great resource for all kinds of Spanish series, games shows, etc… and subtitles are available.

Enjoy :+1:

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OMG, @stefdival, I just watched the trailer for “El lado oscuro del corazón” and it looks amazing, it’s right up my alley :slight_smile:!

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@Heidi “Ahora Caigo” is so silly and the host is so intense sometimes! But I do love that show as well, secretly. :face_with_hand_over_mouth::see_no_evil:

Atresplayer is also an amazing resource! I also watch it :slight_smile:

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I love all the recommendations all of you guys have made. I agree with most of the movies you shared.
I would like just to add a couple of them.

  • There is an Argentinian movie I can’t get enough of: “Un Cuento Chino”. I think everyone should watch this comedy. It’s brilliant. It tells the story of a bitter guy who out of coincidence has to deal with a Chinese man in his house.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUu8d5eWiXA

  • "Como Agua para Chocolate": This is an awesome Mexican movie, that actually was based on a great book written by Laura Esquivel. It’s a love story settled in another “epoch”. You can also see how important food is in the story and also why the title it has.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtJCi5QCCMI

  • There are some Colombian movies that portray a very sad reality, but still they are great pieces. You can learn lots of slang and idiomatic expression. One of them is “La Vendedora de Rosas”. It’s about the life of a girl who literally sells roses on the street and how this marginal environtment affects her (and others) lives. It was even a nominee to the Cannes Film Festival.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNF_UG8Ercw

  • "Paraiso Travel": I love love love this movie. It’s about a guy who follows his girlfriend to live the “American Dream”, illegally. So you see all the crazy stuff what that means.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuEfctatzfA
    The soundtrack is fantastic. This is a song by a Colombian artist (Fonseca) for the movie.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DELdudT0RmA

  • Rodrigo D No Futuro is sort of similar to the “Vendedora de Rosas” because of the issues it addresses.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnM3J-j1CU8

  • "La Gente de la Universal". You will laugh lots with this one. It is a kind of drama with black humor.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3tMGmBUks

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I loved “Un cuento chino” as well. I must say I’m the biggest Darín fan :slight_smile:. I just like his humour a lot!
And I must confess I’ve never watched “Como agua para chocolate” although I know it’s classic. It’s been on my list for years, maybe it’s time! Thank you for reminding me :heart_eyes:.

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Oh @stefdival I love that you recommended that movie, it’s one of my favourite ever too. Each time I watch it, I find it more beautiful and poetic… <3

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I’ve watched the series “las chicas del cable” recently and really liked the show with strong female characters. It transported me back to the Spain of the late 1920s.

@Altair will do a stream on this show next Friday. Go watch it live if you can! :slight_smile: I’m very curious how she liked the series.


Just like Heidi and Géraldine, I also liked casa de papel and can recommend another one of Altair’s stream, in which she spoke about season 5 :slight_smile:

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