Spanish movies that will help you learn and improve your Spanish
As human beings we love having stories told to us, hence why watching movies or TV series is such a popular hobby.
Is watching movies and TV series a hobby of yours too? ?
Genial! Then you’re in luck because watching movies and TV series can be a brilliant language acquisition tool, if you watch them in the language you are studying.
Spanish cinema has a brilliant reputation for having high quality movies in all genres.
So, if you like movies and you’re also studying Spanish, keep reading because today we are going to talk about the best movies for learning Spanish. .
Watching movies is a great way to to learn a language for many different reasons:
- You'll get to work on your listening comprehension.
- It is the perfect way to see how we pronounce certain words within the variety of accents that exist within Spain.
- You'll learn many new words and expressions.
- It is a good way to learn colloquial language.
- You'll learn how Spaniards naturally speak on a day to day basis.
Alongside many other reasons that you will find out once you start watching films/series in Spanish.
¡Vamos! Choose a movie and grab some popcorn because it's about to start 😉
How to learn a language by watching movies?
There are many tips for learning spanish by watching movies which we are going to explore together today during this article.
If you are a beginner,we suggest that you put subtitles on in your language so you don't get lost.
Thus, you'll keep up with the story line. Additionally, you'll see which words and expressions are repeated most frequently, in which contexts, and how they are pronounced by the actors.
If you have an intermediate level, we recommend that you take a step and put the subtitles in the language you want to learn.
Your listening and reading comprehension is more developed. Just try to focus on the conversations and use the subtitles for support.
This will help you learn a lot of vocabulary 😊
Finally, if you have an advanced level , the best thing to do is watch the movie without subtitles.
It may be challenging at first but as your ear gets tuned to the language, you'll able to understand what the characters are generally saying.
There will be many words that you will not understand, but don't worry about it. It happens to everyone.
Write down which words are frequently repeated or those that you think are important and look them up in the dictionary after. 😉
Movies for Spanish beginners (Level A1 and A2)
Next, we talk about 6 movies in Spanish lenguaje very interesting if you have a basic understanding .
If you are at higher levels and have not seen them, of course we also recommend them.
El laberinto del fauno / Pan's Labyrinth (William del Toro, 2006)
This movie combines one of the most tragic events in Spanish history (The Spanish Civil War/La Guerra Civil) with fairy tale style fantasy.
An amazing combination. ¿No te parece?
The main character and protagonist is Ofelia, an 11 year old girl. Whilst her authoritarian step father is intent on waging war, she meets a faun, a mythical creature that tricks her into a series of dangerous adventures.
Watching this movie will help improve your vocabulary related to storytelling and teach you a little more about what happened during the dark years of the Civil War in Spain .
It’s a must watch, it is one of Guillermo del Toro's best movies.
Thesis (Alejandro Amenabar, 1996)
Thesis is considered one of the best Spanish thrillers. ,
Director Alejandro Amenabar is one of the best Spanish film directors.
He’s also known for directing extremely famous movies such as Abre los ojos (1997), Los otros (2001) and Mar Adentro
Are you a fan of crime and detective stories? Well... Esta es tu película!
In Tesis the main character is Ángela, a university student writing her dissertation about a series of murders recorded and found on snuff movies.
Watching this movie will help you learn vocabulary related to university, crime and cinema itself.
The movie also includes a lot of conversations between classmates, so we’re quite sure it will be a useful watch for you if you’re planning on taking a Spanish course alongside other classmates. 😉
Los ojos de Julia (Guillem Morales, 2010)
Shall we continue with our theme of thrillers and horror movies?
What is for sure is that we Spaniards are very good at making these types of movies. Hahaha
In this feature film Julia tragically looses her sister, as well as needing to overcome her imminent blindness.
What originally appears as a suicide, starts to seem like something much more sinister.
Investigation, illness and family issues are the main themes of this Belén Rueda thriller. .
El Orfanato (J.A. Bayonne, 2007)
Director John Anthony Bayonne has become the gold standard for Spanish cinema.
Did you enjoy The impossible? Did you cry like a baby at A Monster Calls ? Well El orfanato will make you tremble with fear!
Once again the movie stars Belén Rueda, this time she faces the disappearance of her son whilst in a party together.
Family tragedies, scare jumps, child ghosts and maternal suffering.
Madre mía, and after all that they still say that Spaniards are happy people!😛
Perdiendo el norte (Nacho G. Velilla, 2015)
I bet you’re wondering, do all Spanish movies involve crying and scare jumps? Of course not!
There are many Spanish comedy films.
Truthfully, the critical bar is not set quite as high for Perdiendo el norte as with the others we have seen above.
But, if you’re looking to have a laugh and enjoy yourself whilst learning Spanish, you’re going to love this movie.
The movie tells the story of two young graduates that are sick of not finding the work opportunities that they are looking for.
They decide to move to Germany and they consequently realise that things over there aren’t quite as brilliant as they thought.
During the course of the film, there are many comical situations, jokes surrounding Spanish and European stereotypes, as well as colloquial language.
The perfect film if you’re looking to talk like a young Spaniard.
Tres metros sobre el cielo (Ferdinand Gonzalez Molina, 2010)
So what about romantic movies? Is there no room for love in Spain?
Of course there is! Us Spaniards are very passionate people 😀
She comes from a strict family and lives a boring life.
He on the other hand is a rebel fighting against the rules, he’s always looking for a fight and illegal car races.
When the two meet, their passionate chemistry and love is undeniable and nothing can come between them.
We’ve seen this story a million times, but it’s a great one!
Additionally, the movie stars Mario casasand if you’ve seen Contratiempo we are sure you know who we’re talking about!
Movies for intermediate learners (Level B1 and B2)
Now let’s take a look at a list of movies for those of you with a slightly higher level of Spanish.
Azul oscuro casi negro (Daniel Sanchez Arevalo, 2006)
Watching this movie will help you practice various Spanish verb tenses and moods : imperativo, pasados, subjuntivo…
The movie is a drama about responsibility, dreams, relationships, friendship and frustration…
Universal themes that affect us all.
In this movie you’ll be able to see the typical problems faced by young Spaniards, how the Spanish mind thinks and once again, how we speak.
Mar adentro (Alejandro Amenabar, 2004)
Although this is one of saddest movies on our list 🙁, it is an incredible film and definitely worth a watch.
Based on true facts, the movie tells the story of Ramón Sampedro, a man that, following a terrible accident at sea, is left quadriplegic.
It’s a great movie to practice past tenses as past tenses are used a lot when Ramón thinks back on his life prior to the accident.
You’ll also the subjunctive is often used when the character talks about his feelings and desires for the future.
Los crímenes de Oxford (Alex de la Iglesia, 2008)
We’re leaving Spain and off to Oxford.
Alex de la Iglesia is one of the most extravagant Spanish film directors. Many of his films mix fantasy with horror and comedy.
This film follows an intriguing story of murders that happen at an english university. You’ll hear a lot of vocabulary related to university, especially to maths and science.
Do you want to study a master or graduate degree performed as part of a university in Spain in the future?
Well, we think you’ll find this movie quite interesting.
La comunidad. (Alex de la Iglesia, 2000)
Madness breaks loose in a neighbourhood in Madrid.
Why? The main character finds 300 million euros on the floor and his neighbours want to take it from him.
Are you a little cynical? Do you like dark humour?
If that sounds like you, you’ll laugh your socks off at La comunidad..
A great way to understand how a humble neighbourhood in Madrid functions. .
More films that we would recommend from Alex de la Iglesia include: El día de la bestia , Las brujas de Zugarramundi and El bar.
Movies for advanced learners (Level C1 and C2)
Lets move onto some films that require a little more than attention and effort to understand.
Get your pen and paper at the ready because you’re about to hear a lot of words that you’ve never heard of before.
If you watch all the following movies you’ll become a Spanish expert.😉
Todo sobre mi madre (Pedro Almodovar, 1999)
Pedro Almodóvar is another golden standard of Spanish cinema.
Who doesn’t remember the moment when the actor Penelope Cruz cried out at the Oscars when the director from La Mancha won.
It was one of the most important moments in the history of Spanish cinema...… and in history in general!
Just joking! I got totally lost during this movie.
In this film you’ll hear rich and complex vocabulary, many subordinate clauses and, of course, a lot of colloquial langauge.
In this masterpiece, Manuela, a single mother of a teenager that died in a car crash, revisits her past to find the father of her son.
Almodóvar shows how a mother will do anything for their child.
La isla mínima (Alberto Rodriguez, 2014)
A police thriller full of suspense and a tense ambience that will leave you completely hooked.
Did you watch the first season of True Detective? Many compare this series with La isla mínima , above all for its staging.
The film is full of fights, shootings, chases, violence… We would have to include it on our list of best Spanish action movies
The complexity of this feature film, when it comes to learning Spanish, is in the mysteriousness of the main characters.
They barely speak!
A film where you need to read between lines to understand what's going on.
Celda 211 (Daniel Monzon, 2009)
We’re moving from tough cops to rebellion prisoners.
Are you a fan of XNUMXs hero action movies?
Films with Bruce Willis in, for example.
Well the actor playing the lead role in this movie is our very own Spanish Bruce Willis! !
The interesting part of this movie when it comes to language, is the variety of accents amongst the characters: galician, andalusian, latin american, etc.
Juana, la loca (Vincent Aranda, 2001)
Let’s go back to the XNUMXth century. This is the perfect movie for history buffs.
You’ll learn all about the Catholic Kings and Queens and conflicts between Spain, France and other Central European countries during this time.
Have you ever wondered what old Spanish sounds like?
If you give Juana, la loca a watch, it’ll give you an idea.
Belle Époque (Fernando Trueba, 1992)
Continuing with movies about Spanish history. .
Only this time, we’re looking at something a little more recent, the Second Spanish Republic (La Segunda República) in 1930.
For many experts, Belle Époque ranks within the top 10 Spanish films of all time.
Had no idea how fascinating Spanish history is?
Well, take advantage of the opportunity to watch these movies and find out a little more!
Our list of movies to help you learn Spanish is coming to an end. But…
What about the kids? All these movies are for adults.
Well don’t panic, because we also have XNUMX brilliant movie recommendations for the little ones.
Spanish movies for children
Do you have children or simply like animated movies?
We’re recommending 3 animated cartoon movies that you must watch if you want to learn Spanish.
These movies are a brilliant way to learn a language as they're full of simple and clear language .
Additionally, characters are usually very expressive and they don’t use any colloquial language.
Metegol (Juan Jose Campanella, 2013)
This Argentinian movie recounts the adventures of a group of table football dolls.
Do you like football? Us Spaniards love it!
This film is an opportunity to get to know the Argentinian accent and the different words in their vocabulary.
Awesome, right?!
Two countries that share the same language, yet they use different words in different contexts.
Tadeo Jones (Henry Cat, 2012)
Did you know that we also have our very own version of Indiana Jones?
This movie is a obvious tribute to the character created by George Lucas , only newer and Spanish.
You’ll be taken on an adventure through exotic countries and laugh out loud during this movie saga.
Pocoyo (2005)
Pocoyo started out as an animated series in 2005which was later made into films.
It's geared toward preschoolers and it is very educational.
Have you been to Spain before and not been sure what to put on the TV for your kids? Well, Pocoyó is the answer to your problem.
Spanish movie vocabulary
Keen to watch one of these movies? We are know the answer is yes 😊
Watching these movies will give you the opportunity to learn a lot of new vocabulary. For example:
- En Thesis y Los crímenes de Oxford a series of university crimes take place.
Therefore, we will hear words such as campus, facultad, máster, doctorado, aula, investigación, delito, crimen, víctima, sospechoso…
- En La isla mínima the vocabulary is quite similar but from a more law and order type of stand point: agente, detective, caso, huella, expediente, arma, coartada, comisario, juez, comisaría…
- En Juana, la loca you’ll find words like: la corte, la realeza, alteza, las caballerías, las murallas, la guerra…
- And if you’re looking for a more type of vocabulary, you’ll find it in La comunidad. Words such as: vecindario, edificio, piso, calle, barrio, vecinos, etc.
Platforms for learning Spanish
If you’re wondering, where can you watch Spanish cinema or even just clips in Spanish.
Well we’re going to tell you about two audiovisual platforms:
Netflix has everything
En Netflix has everything and you can find a lot of new Spanish movies on it.
As well as some that we’ve already mentioned.
Surely you’ve heard of Money Heist (la casa de papel). Well Netflix was the platform that made it famous.
Hang on a second…
You’re telling me that you’ve never seen the Spanish series that went viral on a global level?
What are you waiting for? 😉
Youtube
An abundance of short clips.
Nowadays it can be quite difficult to watch full movies in Spanish.
However, there is other content on Youtube that can be quite useful: movie scenes, interviews, documentaries, video podcasts, courses and entertainment…
There are many Spanish speaking Youtubers that explore practically any topic.
If you like film reviews , give the youtube channel de Sensacine.
And that's all, folks!
Go on, you can do it! Give Spanish cinema a go! You’ll improve the level of Spanish you acquire through online Spanish courses without even realising.
Have you seen a Spanish movie that’s not on our list before?
Let us know which one and share your opinion with other students.
Did you know that at Hispania, escuela de españolwe have our very own cinema!
Every week we showcase Spanish and International films which are always shown in Spanish.
Is there any better way to complement your Spanish language acquisition?
Learn Spanish by watching movies and enjoy yourself at the same time.
¡Nos vemos!
Article written by Carlos Martínez for Hispania, escuela de español
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