Romantic Movies Improve Spanish Language Skills
Practice Spanish Listening Skills with Top-Rated Foreign Films
May 23, 2009
Romance is typically defined in the sense of love, sex, and affairs of the heart. The word romance, however, can also embody the spirit or artistic sense of a culture. The Spanish language movies described below can fall into either or both categories. Watch, listen, and enjoy!
Romantic Spanish Language Movies from Mexico
Como agua para chocolate/Like Water for Chocolate [1992] is based on the novel by Laura Esquivel. It is the story of Tita, the youngest sister in the family, who falls in love with Pedro, but is forbidden to marry him. So he agrees to marry one of her older sisters in order to be closer to her. The humor revolves around the feast she cooks for her sister and her lover’s wedding. Directed by Alfonso Arau; screenplay by Laura Esquivel.
Y tu mamá también/And Your Mother Also [2001] is an intelligent, funny road movie and teen sex romp, but contains some explicit scenes. Two Mexico City high school graduates and best friends from opposite ends of the economic world and left at loose ends over the summer are seduced by a sexy older woman. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón; written by Alfonso Cuarón and Carlos Cuarón.
El laberinto del fauno/Pan’s Labyrinth [2006] takes place in the fascist Spain of 1944. A little girl escapes into a fantasy world to avoid the harsh realities of a world at war, but can she escape them? Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Romantic Spanish Language Films from Spain
Hable con ella/Talk to Her [2002] won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The story of two men who develop an odd friendship and whose lives become intertwined while their girlfriends are both in comas. Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Belle époque/The Age of Beauty [1992] took the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Taking place in 1931, it is the story of a young army deserter who seeks refuge in the home of an elderly artist and is seduced by the old man’s four beautiful daughters. Directed by Fernando Trueba; written by Rafael Azcona.
El abuelo/The Grandfather [1998] is about an elderly man who loses both his son and his fortune and returns home to Spain to try discover which of his two granddaughters is his true granddaughter. Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Written and directed by José Luis Garci; based on the novel by Benito Pérez Galdós.
Secretos del corazón/Secrets of the Heart [1997] is the story of a boy and his friend who explore a supposedly haunted house. The boy becomes so intrigued he begins to investigate the stories of the dead people connected to the house. Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Written and directed by Montxo Armendáriz.
Romantic Spanish Language Cinema from Cuba
Fresa y chocolate/Strawberry and Chocolate [1994] is the story of a cultivated but skeptical homosexual who falls in love with a young heterosexual communist. It was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award. Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío; written by Senel Paz.
Romantic Spanish Language Films from Argentina
Diarios de motocicleta/The Motorcycle Diaries [2004] illustrates the life of a young Che Guevara in the 1950s as he takes a motorcycle road trip through South America with his best friend Alberto Granado. Directed by Walter Salles; written by Jose Rivera based on the memoirs of Ernest ‘Che’ Guevara and Alberto Granado.
El hijo de la novia/Son of the Bride [2001] was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. This comedy/drama is about a middle age man has a heart attack and is reunited with a childhood friend who helps him gain perspective on his past and present way of life. Directed by Juan José Campanella; written by Juan José Campanella and Fernando Castets.
With these outstanding Spanish language films from a variety of countries and cultures, foreign language learning takes on a whole new context. Spanish language students who want to challenge themselves can watch and listen to these movies in their original language. Those who simply want to enjoy some good cinema can enable the subtitles.
Like foreign films? Check out these French and Italian movie reviews.
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