A Top Ten List

I have finalized the 10 films that I will teach in my 300 level film course this fall. This is a course that aims to increase language proficiency while also teaching culture, and cinematographic and literary analysis through film. The students are high intermediate to advanced language learners, heritage speakers and an occasional native speaker. I develop many of my own lesson plans,but also rely heavily on the textbook Cinema for Spanish Conversation by Focus Publishing. (See my post about this text here.) 

Never content to simply teach all of the same films that I have taught in previous semesters, there are several new films on this year's list as well as a couple of "classics" that I feel the need to revive. It is always difficult for me to narrow down my list to 10 films, given the rich offerings from the many Spanish-speaking countries. The main criteria that I use in my selection process is that the film offer some type of cultural or historical perspective that my students can study. From there I choose films that have been recognized with major awards (Oscars, Goya, Ariel, etc.) or that have been critically acclaimed. The final selections feature strong cinematography, acting, soundtracks or other features which we can also study in the course. Here is this semester's selection:

(country designations refer to the countries showcased in each film, not the nationality of the directors)

1. También la lluvia (Icíar Bollían, Bolivia / Cuba / Hispaniola, 2010) 
2. Diarios de Motocicleta (Walter Salles, Argentina/ Chile / Peru/ Colombia/ Venezuela, 2004)
3. Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2008)
4. Como agua para chocolate (Alfonso Arau; Mexico, 1992)
5. La misma luna (Patricia Riggin, Mexico/ USA, 2007)
6. El laberinto del Fauno (Guillermo del Toro , Spain, 2006)
7. El secreto de sus ojos (Juan José Campanella, Argentina, 2010)
8. No (Pablo Larraían, Chile,  2012)
9. Blancanieves (Pablo Berger, Spain, 2012)
10. Chico y Rita (Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal y Fernando Trueba, Cuba, 2010)

In other semesters I've organized the films by geography (country showcased in the film) or by general theme. This year I'm going with a more-or-less thematic approach, with a few exceptions at the end of the semester. The first 8 films are "traditional" narrative films with live actors which I begin two introductory films También la lluvia (Icíar Bollían, Spain, 2010) and Diarios de Motocicleta (Walter Salles, 2004). También la lluvia offers, in addition to the cultural themes which I detailed in a previous post, the opportunity to explore the film making industry and related vocabulary as one of its story lines follows a film crew working in Bolivia. Diarios de Motocicleta offers students a geographical study of Latin America while also introducing them to the idea that the countries in Latin America are not homogeneous and that each has its own unique culture, many of which we will explore later in the course.  

We then explore the theme of family through the films Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, 2008), Como agua para chocolate (Alfonso Arau; Mexico, 1992) and La misma luna (Patricia Riggin, Mexico/ USA, 2007). 

Volver is my selection this semester by Almodóvar; I have also used Todo sobre mi madre many times in my classes, again with the theme of family and have a hard time choosing between the two films. I have taught both of them in the same semester at times due to my inability to choose between the two great melodramas by Almodóvar. 

I have taught Como agua para chocolate, both the novel and the film, with their magic realism and focus on Mexican culture and family life at the time of the 1910 Revolution, many times earlier in my career, but then put them aside in favor of more recent films. This will be my first time teaching it in over a decade, but I have found that most students have never even heard of the film. It is time to bring a modern classic back out of retirement.  La misma luna is a heart-warming film, which I have often politely ignored when choosing films for my courses because it feels a bit too "happily ever after" for my tastes, but it does make a very real, very difficult topic (child immigration at the US Mexican border) come alive for students, which can then be explored in greater depth. 

The films El laberinto del Fauno (Guillermo del Toro , Spain, 2006), El secreto de sus ojos (Juan José Campanella, Argentina, 2010), and No (Pablo Larraían, Chile,  2012) are studied under the umbrella theme of  "Memoria y olivido" (Memory and Oblivion) as each film explores traumatic events in the the recent history of its showcased country. El laberinto del Fauno, with its incredible special effects and makeup explores the Maqui resitsance to the Franco government in post-civil war Spain, while El secreto de sus ojos uses flashbacks to show "La Guerra Sucia" in 1970's Argentina. No, with its focus on the upbeat theme of the No Campaign of the 1988 plebiscite that ousted the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, contrasts well against the other two films. I create my own plans for Fauno and Secreto, and have taught them both several times. I haven't blogged about them yet, but will publish my plans on this blog later this summer. Secreto is not a film that I would NOT show in a high school classrooms, and I always give a trigger warning and offer an alternative film (La Historia Oficial: Luis Puenzo 1985) for my college students, due to its strong on-screen sexual violence. That said, it is a wonderful crime thriller with an ending that takes everyone off guard. I first taught No this past spring, in a different course, and have blogged about it here. 

The last two films of the semester are not presented thematically, rather showcased for their unique genres: Blancanieves (Pablo Berger, Spain, 2012) is a silent film in black and white while Chico y Rita (Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal y Fernando Trueba, Cuba, 2010) is an animated film. This will be my first time teaching Blancanieves (post coming soon!) and I am excited for the rich cultural content - bullfighting and flamenco - as well as the chance to explore the genre of silent films. I've taught Chico y Rita before and have blogged about the films portrayal of Cuban Jazz pre-1959 here. 

Other films that didn't make this year's course, but that I have enjoyed teaching in previous semesters:

1. Machuca (Andrés Wood 2004)
2. El silencio de Neto (Luis Argueta 1994)
3. Todo sobre mi madre (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
4. El Norte (Gregory Nava 1983)
5. Nueve Reinas (Fabian Bielinsky 2000)
6. Arráncame la vida (Roberto Sneider 2008)
7. Martín Hache (Adolfo Aristarain 1997)
8. Flores de otro mundo (Icíar Bollaín 1999)

9. Fresa y chocolate (Tomás Guitiérrez Alea 1994)

My next post will be about films other Spanish-language films that I love, but that didn´t make it into my course for one reason or another.  Consider them your ¨guilty pleasure¨ viewing list for the summer.....