Spanish movies for high school students

Hi there everyone. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions of movies to show to high school kids (ie. w/out much sex or violence)?
As the end of the school year approaches she beg for films. In the past I have shown "Mujeres a borde de un ataque de nervios" (they ADORE it), "Bodas de sangre," "El norte"(Mexico) "La historia oficial"(Argentina) to name a few. Any other ideas? (of course they should be availabe in the States) Gracias.

Esperanza, what levels are you teaching?
The movie Stand and Deliver is available in Spanish and my upper level kids love it - also Mi Familia (especially good if you have a lot of Mexican students, but it has profanity and a little sex - none of it gratuitous.) My 1st and 2nd yr. students like the Disney movies (El Rey Leon, Aladdin, Toy Story, etc. - they're available in Spanish and even at that level, where they can't understand everything,the fact that most already KNOW the story, makes it easier. They never seem to get tired of those movies, either. I can show the same one 2 or 3 times, after which, they're beginning to pick up quite a lot of the Spanish.

How about "Carmen"? There is a film version directed (or produced?) by Saura that I can remember watching in in college (1st year), so it might be okay to show to older high school students.

Also, "Camilla" which is Argentine I believe.

Of course, both of these have some sex and some violence, so I'm not sure that I'd show them to any class other than perhaps a class full of seniors..

ahh, "Camila..." impossible love, some sex on a table...probably not appropriate for high school classroom, although I was a junior in high school when I first saw it.

Ooops, I'd forgotten that scene! Erase "Camila" from the viewing list!

Has anyone thought of movies in DVD?. Here in Spain DVDs are dubbed in several languages (Spanish, English, German and sometimes even French, Italian...) and subtitled in even more languages (about 8 differente ones). And all these things in the same DVD.

However, DVD players have been designed so that European discs can't be played on American players and viceversa. I wonder if you can buy DVDs having the Spanish dubbing there in the US.

You can have choose to listen to the movie in any of the languages available and also choose among the subtitles.

Have anyone tried this?.

Glad to see someone else shows "Mujeres al borde..." My students RAVED on that one, and many were turned on to Almodóvar (for better or worse) by seeing that film.

We had an incredibly well-produced version of Don Quixote that we showed. It was done by TVE, has five cassettes, and is true to the novel. It so happened that we read an abridged version of the novel in Spanish in preparation (and concurrently), but at the same time, the students had been assigned an English translation of "Quixote" in their English classes...¡qué suerte! Showing at least the first part of that series is a must.

Hello All! JUST last night I rented and watched the 1999 Spanish movie " Lengua de las Mariposas/Butterfly " (in castellano with English subtitles). It was REALLY good! Takes place in a small town in Galicia JUST before the Spanish civil war starts. Click link above and then PLOT SUMMARY at left. Touching and sad at at times too. There's one sex scene with brief male and female nudity towards the beginning of the movie and reference to that scene later in the movie, but other than that I'd say it's totally appropriate.

Saludos, MadridMan

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I also thought of Butterfly and Camila. I was wondering about movies I can purchase in Spain this summer that perhaps are not available here in the States. I am very interested in the Don Quijote. I will definitely look for that. Has anyone any thoughts about Macario...it's an old film, but I heard it is quite good.

Hello Esperanza,

The two films that I would recommend are:

Las Cartas de Alou/Letters from Alou
1990 Dir. Montxo Armendáriz
It is the story about Alou, an African immigrant, who enters Spain clandestinely in order to work. He faces alot of discrimination and hardship as he works up to Barcelona to meet up with a friend.
It won best picture at the 1990 San
Sebastian film festival.


Solas/Alone
Dir. Benito Zambrano 1998

About a caring mother, whose kindness affects both the lives of her pregnant and unmarried daughter and an elderly neighbor in modern-day Sevilla.

[ 04-13-2001: Message edited by: PacoM ]

Esperanza, regarding purchasing movies in Spain this summer, please be aware that videos in Spain, just like the DVDs Antonio mentioned, don't work on American systems. Spain uses the PAL system, and the USA uses the NTSC system. There are multisystem VCRs that play more than one system, so if your school has one, you may be all right. If not, they cost around $500. To get a copy of a PAL tape made into an NTSC tape, it will cost about $30. (There's a thread in here somewhere with more information.)

Secretos del corazon (Secrets of the heart) is a great Spanish film I saw a couple of months ago. Its about a young boy and one summer when he learns about the secrets of his family, so I don't think there would be anything too gratuitous for high school students.

Diana, Thanks for the warning. I do have access to a machine that converts from one system to the other in my school.

Regarding "secretos del corazon". If I recall correctly, one of the things the kid sees and understands is the fact that humans tend to mate like the bees, the dogs,...you know what I mean.

I recomend "La Vaquilla" it's a really funny and close to reality film about the Spanish Civil war, no sex and no violence, maybe just some bad language.
I also recomend "Un lugar en el mundo", it's a really pretty argetinian film
You can find any information about any film in the page www.imdb.org
with comments in english.

What about, "Como agua por Chocolate" Water for Chocalate? I saw it in both Spanish and English and would be great for students I think.

"Como agua para chocolate" is fairly heavy on the sex front! I had to watch it for a college class but I don't know about a high school classroom....

Well we are coming to the end of the school year and I have shown some of the films mentioned, and I thought I would share the results.
In one class everyone loved Almodovar's Mujeres. We also saw Como agua para chocolate and it was a big hit also. Excerts from Como agua para chocolate are in our textbook, so they were very prepared with vocabulary and such; and the kids really enjoyed it. Especially the realismo mágico..it IS captivating.
In another class we recently saw Lengua de la mariposa/Butterfly. I thought that they would not really appreciate the political interpretation too much ( they are high school sophomores), yet they were very moved by the ending. We had some pretty good discussions about it and I am very happy to have shown it.
Lastly, in my freshman class we saw El norte. They enjoyed it too and it really opened their eyes to another culture. It is one of my favorites and I love to expose my students to it each year.
In the past I have shown Mi familia...with good results. The problem is all the English! I really want them to hear the Spanish...and to FEEL it.
I have recently joined the Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes and they have an AMAZING library of books and videos. I am planning on checking out some of the other films you all mentioned in the past to see if they would be good for my classes. As a matter of fact, Cali, the Don Quixote series is in their library...so I will definitely check it out.
Well, there is my update. Thanks again for your suggestions and ideas. Esperanza

Wow Esperanza, that Instituto Cervantes looks great. Can you believe I've been in NYC since 1995 and have never been there? Now is a good time to start. (or when I get back from Spain)

Esperanza,

Glad to hear you had some hits on your movie presentation. I do have one suggestion: Be careful about exposing yourself to high school children in the future.

Enjoy finals week!

The Don Quijote serie has been made with really good care, and Fernando Rey was great. Sadly he died after filming the first part, Now they're doing the 2nd part with Juan Luis Galiardo.

Another good TV serie is Juncal, it's about the life of an old retired torero, one of the best roles of Paco Rabal, who was one of the best Spanish actors...

Now, we enjoy in TVE with Cuentame a serie about the life of a normal family in Spain in the 70's ... they have done very well the environment

I guess I'm joining in this thread a little late, but I think El Abuelo is a great movie, and since there is no nudity or violence, should be ok to show to any ages. It's a great touching movie, set in turn of the century Asturias, about an old man who has returned to his small town to find out which of his 2 granddaughters is legitimate. I read somewhere to keep your eyes open for the first 7 minutes of the movie--it's all done with 1 shot, just following the characters around. (I'll have to keep that in mind next time I watch it...) I'm not sure how available it is for purchase, but I was able to rent it at a local video store.

Enjoy!

los santos inocentes..based on a book by miguel delibes..."me meo en las manos para que no me se corten.."

wel, I finally got to the Instituto Cervantes today and I was able to get 3 movies to preview to show next year...Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall, Cartas de Alou and La Vaquilla. I can't wait to see them! The Instituto has an impressive library ( open to the public) and I really recommend it if you are in NYC.

Thanks Esperanza for sharing this bit of library news. I certainly shall visit the Instituto's library when I next visit New York City. I noticed that they have 60,000 volumes, that is impressive if they are all in Spanish! Of course New York like Chicago is a Librarian's paradise, I love the NYPL and of course Columbia University's library.

Booklady the Librarian

Instituto Cervantes does have an extensive video and book collection. (I work in their library a few hours a week as a volunteer)
Members outside the NY area can check out materials via mail, and the catalog is available on their website .

hey everybody

this is offtopic but since were talking about movies here,i would like to say my favorite actors.antonio banderas,victoria abril,penelope cruz and the tranvestite actor that actually looks pretty nice.do these people sound familiar.oh and i forgot the name of the movie with that tranvestite.isnt she funny in excess?

I love that one ugly actress that is in a lot of Almodovar movies. She has a long face and a huge nose. I don't know her name, but she's great . . .

crys, the Picasso faced actress you refer to is named Rosie Di Palma (sp?). Haven't seen her in awhile, but I think she had a brief stint in Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Rossy de Palma has a feature in today's El País. It's all about her latest movie, called in Spanish El Embolao. It's French and sounds quite mediocre I'm afraid - apart that is, from the wonderful Rossy.