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Spanish language movies

Nov 8, 2007 · MartCross · 23 replies · 10707 views
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Anybody interested in Spanish and Latin American movies? I'm watching lots as part of my language practice - and for their own sake as films, of course. I thought it might be good to swap some recommendations, so I'll start with a peli I saw last night. Siete Virgenes is a bitter-sweet film about a bad kid from Seville who gets a pass from youth detention to attend his brother's wedding and uses the 48 hours outside to catch up on some sex, drugs and violence. Sounds like a Spanish Trainspotting but it's surprisingly gentle with all the sleeze. It was made in 2005 by Alberto Rodriguez who got some brilliant performances from the young cast, especially Juan Jose Ballesta in the lead, and the photography is lovely. The language is quite difficult, as it's full-on Sevillian dialect throughout. Some other good movies I've seen recently include Labarinto del Fauno, 9 Reinas and El Espinazo del Diablo.
Nov 9, 2007 · jurdyr
looking for Jamon jomon and cant fine it any one please
Nov 9, 2007 · Expatriator
Jurdyr, do you know how to use bittorrent? Try here if so (http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3542484/CAMERON_DIAZ_in_JAMON_JAMON_).
Nov 9, 2007 · MartCross
Jurydyr, you live in the UK, yeah? If you can part with ?5.99 a month or thereabouts you can subscribe to DVDs by post from Amazon or Sofacinema (http://www.sofacinema.co.uk/learn/). There are lots of others around now but these two are good and both have an excellent choice of non-mainstream and foreign language movies - certainly much better than a rental store. You get one or more films at a time depending on what you pay, and when you send one back they forward the next title from your list. I've had dozens of Spanish and Latin movies this way. It's a long time since I saw Jamon, Jamon, but I remember it being very daft, despite the lovely Penelope Cruz and usually excellent Javier Bardem. Sofacinema do a free trial, by the way.
Nov 19, 2007 · lb26
Wow, what a great thread!

I taught a Latin American/Spanish film class in New York a few years ago and just started an ex-pat film club in Barcelona with a few friends that has been going pretty strong!

So, here are my MUST SEE suggestions:

Pedro Almodovar- (in order of greatness!)
Mujeres Al Borde de un Attaque de Nervios
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
Hable Con Ella
Volver

Alejandro Amenabar-
Tesis
Mar Adentro

A couple of others that deserve honorable mention:
El Bola
El Lobo

I saw "Tesis" in college years ago while studying abroad in Spain and it riveted me. It is scary and suspensful in a way that was new for me. American films tend to manipulate your senses, triggering you to be scared at just the right moment... but this film does it naturally and its spectacular. A bit "fuerte", but worth seeing. The performances are amazing.
Nov 19, 2007 · MartCross
Hi Laura, I saw Tesis a few years ago and thought it was brilliant - absolutely gripping and I didn't guess the killer's identity until the end! A great performance from Ana Torent, who was the little girl in Victor Erice's El Espiritu de la Colmena way back in 1973 (and one of the best kid actors I've ever seen in any language). Amenabar is a bit hit and miss for me; I liked The Others but couldn't really be bothered with Abre los Ojos, although it was (of course) better than the Tom Cruise re-make. I haven't seen Mar Adentro but the reviews were mixed. Saw an amusing little movie last night called Seres Queridos - it was set in Madrid but was strangely un-Spanish. A Jewish girl brings home her Palestinian boyfriend, and then it turns into a bit of a farce. Worth watching, though. As for Almodovar, he's almost like a category on his own now, don't you think? Kind of like the status of Allen or Bergman. And you love him or hate him. I'd agree with putting Mujeres at the top of his list, but Volver is very good too. Thanks for contributing and I hope the thread thrives!
Nov 20, 2007 · jurdyr
not in the uk until mid dec now travel all time back in spain full time mid jan The Expatriator tryed the link and comapny OS wont let me down load it
any got some where eles i can get it , Amazon dont have a good copy
just need to a site to down and get my hand on the spanish aswell
big problem with me is i am dyslexia ( are to lazye to do it right )
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling.
so you have to put up with me here ja ja ja
Nov 20, 2007 · Don Carlos
Yeah I agree, ?Mar Adentro? is a great movie. But I have to say that I think one of my best Spanish movies was and still is ?Amantes?.
Nov 21, 2007 · Expatriator

> not in the uk until mid dec now travel all time back in spain full time mid jan The Expatriator tryed the link and comapny OS wont let me down load it
any got some where eles i can get it , Amazon dont have a good copy



Sorry about the bittorrent problems. If you can get it going (got a smart friend?) then it's the best/easiest/cheapest way to get movies and TV... not that I use it of course. ;)

I rented Mar Adentro a few months ago but the girlfriend never had the ganas to watch a sad, emotional movie, so we ended up returning it without seeing it. Maybe over the holidays here...
Nov 21, 2007 · Don Carlos
Here's a little clip for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzDlbiEX74U
Nov 21, 2007 · jurdyr
very good clip
Nov 27, 2007 · lb26
So speaking of Mar Adentro, the leading lady role was played by Belen Rueda who won a Goya for the film. She also stars in the new spooky thriller "El Orfanato" that just came out. Did anyone else see it? What did you think?

I really enjoyed it. There are a couple of scenes where everyone in the theater jumped out of our seats in unison. That rarely happens. It is definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

Switching genres, I must say I love Spanish comedy. One of my favorites is "Dias de Futbol". So Spanish, so funny, and it has a wonderful cast. I also recently saw "Club de los suicidios" a very dark comedy that I thought was done rather tastefully considering the subject matter. But it also made me laugh out loud several times.
Dec 4, 2007 · martin79
I would recommend, among the movies suggested, Tesis, Los Otros and Nueve Reinas. They are IMO excellent movies. But I don?t know if there is a subtitled version in English.

I would like to know if someone saw "El Orfanato". It seems to be a thriller!
Dec 4, 2007 · MartCross
Yep, Nueve Reinas is available with subtitles in the UK, and brilliant it is too. If you like sting or heist movies with a twist, it's one of the best. I really need the subtitles, I'm afraid, as I find Argentine Spanish about the most difficult and impenetrable variety of the language, even though I've been (briefly) to that beautiful country. Saw another interesting Argentine movie at the weekend called La Familia Rodante. Directed by Pablo Trapero who made El Bonarense, it's a road movie about an extended family and their friends who travel 1000km from Buenos Aires to Misiones in an old motor home. Not much happens in the way of plot - it's really just about the development of characters and relationships, a bit like Little Miss Sunshine without the comedy ending. However, the photography is fantastic, with superb composition and framing so there's always something to look at, and you get to see some little-known parts of South America. On this subject I think Argentine cinema deserves more exposure in Europe - seems Mexican and Brazilian movies have made an impact but the other Latin American countries produce good stuff too, but we don't alway hear about it in the UK. Maybe in Spain they get distribution - I'm afraid when I'm in Spain I'm a long way from the cinema!
Dec 4, 2007 · RG
I recently watched Diarios de motocicleta and Alatriste, recommend both...
Dec 4, 2007 · martin79
Oh yes RG, Alatriste, I forgot to mention that movie! Diarios de Motocicleta oops didn?t see it.

Well Martcross, I will shortlist La Familia Rodante...those road-movies! Martin
Dec 4, 2007 · RG
yes it's Argentine... easier to understand! ... ;-)
Dec 4, 2007 · Dreamer
I enjoyed the campy comedy "El otro lado de la cama" and Almod?var's "La mala educaci?n".
Mar 8, 2008 · Two_in_Spain
A tip if you're trying to leanr but not up to watching and understanding a whole movie is to watch a dvd but select the spanish version with english subtitles, or the english with spanish subtitles. We idd this and its amazing how much you realise you do know. Also it helps with reading and spelling rather than just conversational.
Mar 8, 2008 · jurdyr
will if you in the EU zone you now get TDT - Television Digital Terrestre (The spanish DTT) - Freeview some off the channel you get
Now the offer is:

TVE:

La Primera --- main public channel
La 2 ---- culture
24H TVE ---- 24 News
Teledeporte --- sports
Clan TVE --- kids channel
Canal 50 A?os --- a nostalgic channel to celebrate 50 years of spanish tv (ClanTV is 7am to 9pm and 50 A?os is 9pm to 4am
Canal Ciudadano --- A public interactive service channel with traffic, news, information about goverment, etc...
Canal Parlamento --- the parlament channel

Antena3:

Antena3 --- private channel
Antena Nova --- a kind of ITV2
Antea Neox --- kids channel

Telecinco:

Telecinco --- main private channel
Telecinco Sports --- a joint venture with eurosports
Telecinco Estrellas --- series,drama, films, miniseries....

Sogecable:

Cuatro --- private independent channel
CNN+ --- 24 hours news, a joint venture with CNN
40 Latino --- spanish and southamerica music

NET:

NET TV --- sports news and politcs channel
FlyMusic --- music channel

VEO:

VEO TV --- private channel
Intereconomia --- economic news

La Sexta:

La Sexta --- starts in april 2006
La Sexta 2 --- starts in april 2006

Radios:

RNE1
RNE2
RNE3
RNE5

this via Hispasat 1C/1D at 30.0?W ... Europe, and i have free view box for this in again next week with dishs (this is for use outside spain )

jurdy
Mar 11, 2008 · heath1974
I watched Pan's Labyrinth recently. What a fantastic film. Superb work by Guillermo del Toro, set in late Civil-War times, it's a very heart-warming but sad tale of a girl with a huge imagination. Definitely recommend seeing it.
Mar 12, 2008 · jurdyr
Jam?n, jam?n (1992) one off the best movies i saw back in the early 90 was with my freinds from Palma de Mallorca , now this movie not for the young
In a plot that only Luna could bring to life, young, sexy Silvia (Penelope Cruz) is engaged to and pregnant by Jose Luis, the son of underwear merchants. Silvia is too lower class for Jose Luis' meddling mother, Conchita, so she hires the young, handsome Raul (Javier Bardem) a worker in a ham factory and wannabe underwear model and bull fighter, to romance her away. But the love starved and still sexy Conchita falls for Raul, while Jose Luis frequents the bordello owned by Silvia's mother. Eventually, the two men duke it out in one of the most unique and bizarre fight scenes ever, beating each other with hams.

This is a dark and weird R-rated soap opera, in which every scene is over the top melodrama, and all characters deliver their lines like they were their last. But it works scene after scene, largely due to the directing and casting. For physical appearance, you won't find a better looking cast anywhere.

Jamon Jamon is challenging because it is so unconventional, but is also enjoyable because of its romance and passion. I enjoy Luna movies immensely and highly recommend this film along with the two that follow, Heuvos de Oro and La teta y la Luna

Jam?n, jam?n (1992)
Apr 8, 2008 · MartCross
Anyone seen the Torrente movies? They're difficult to track down in the UK (SofaCinema doesn't have them) but I got the first of the series from Amazon, eventually. Unlike most Spanish language movies we are able to see in the international market, they're not arthouse flics, just gross-out humour like you'd expect from the Farrely Brothers. Torrente is a fat, lazy, corrupt, cowardly, fascist ex-cop and Atletico Madrid supporter. Funny stuff. Although maybe I am missing something and the character is a metaphor for the state of Spain rather than just a joke......