1. El Mismo Amor, la Misma Lluvia (Same Love, Same Rain) Argentina 1999 Dir. Juan Jose Campanella
A tale of love and fortunes lost and found. Two characters, two dreamers. El Mismo Amor, la Misma Lluvia narrates the love encounter between writer Jorge (Ricardo Darin) and Lucia (Soledad Villamil) a waitress and aspiring actress, whose lives are intertwined by hopes, dreams and passionate love. We follow them as they fall in and out of love and friendship, through twenty years of personal changes as we also experience Argentina’s two decades of socio-political mutation. The ups and downs of Jorge and Laura’s relationship mirror the political turbulence of the country they live in. Like a haunting presence, we catch glimpses of the twenty years that shaped modern-day Argentina, through the film and its characters’ love aspirations, complications and what-could-have-been sentiments of regrets and reminiscence.
2. Amarte Duele (Love Hurts) 2022 Mexico
This Latino Romeo and Juliet movie is a classic romantic movie that moved people’s hearts. It tells the story of Ulises, a boy who comes from a low-class neighbourhood and a world of drugs and crime. Meanwhile, Renata comes from a high class environment that is close environment to outsiders. Unexpectedly, they met, and their lives turned as they fell in love with each other. Love Hurts delves into how these two characters want to be together but their family and friends prevent them from being happy because they come from different "classes," and how they will go to any length (literally) to be together.
3. Chico y Rita Dir. Fernando Trueba. (2010)
Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unite them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.
4. El Lado Oscuro del Corazón ( The Dark Side of the Heart) Argentina 1992 Dir. Eliseo Subiela
A romantic drama with meaning, depth and neurosis in a way that can only be Argentine. The ultimate canchero, young, handsome, utterly self-absorbed Oliverio (Darío Grandinetti) seduces and discards the prettiest girls whistle being a first-class jerk. We hate him, though perhaps because we see in him that childlike freedom and audacity we would love to possess.
As he beds partner after partner, Oliverio is searching for the perfect woman: “I will not tolerate a woman who cannot fly.” In his sleazy quest, Oliverio lays his poet vibe on prostitute Ana (Sandra Ballesteros), who refuses to be impressed and is as well read as he is on the lines he swipes from the poet Mario Benedetti. Oliverio becomes obsessed with Ana, not least because she actually can fly: when they finally make love, she levitates, in the true tradition of “magical realism.”
Ana becomes the most compelling character in the film; her husband “disappeared” by Argentina’s former oppressive regime, leaving her to take care of their daughter. The coup, she says, made whores of everyone. She keeps her books of subversive poetry hidden because of course prostitutes do not read. Eventually, even Oliverio is forced to confront his own ego and learn to empathise. In doing so, he comes to realise that perfection is not his right, that love will not beg for him, and that, too often, the woman who can fly only does so to escape.
5. Como Agua para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) Mexico 1992
Tita (Lumi Cavazos) who longs for her beloved, Pedro (Marco Leonardi) but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition: the youngest daughter cannot marry, but instead must take care of her mother until she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks. A real Mexican classic, it's hard to believe that this powerful romantic drama is now more than 30 years old.
6. Palomita Blanca (Little White Dove) Chile 1973 Dir. Raúl Ruiz
A teenage love affair in times of civil unrest and military dictatorship. Our fifth entry of “Latin American films you should watch before you die” is one of the most important films in Chilean cinematography history - Palomita Blanca. Little White Dove, directed by the experimentalist and inquisitive filmmaker Raúl Ruiz, is a testimony, an inquiry on love in times of political and social disruption. The film is based on the homonymous novel by author Enrique Lafourcade.
7. Black Orpheus (Dir. Marcel Camus 1959 - new Blu-Ray release)
The classic 1959 Rio Carnival adaptation of the ancient Greek tale about Orpheus and Eurydice, two lovers meeting and falling in love, pursued by the macabre figure of Death won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for best foreign language film. Set in the slums (favelas) overlooking the bay, the Orpheus here (Breno Mello, previously a champion football star) is a trolleybus conductor, whose songs and music have elevated him to the position of great favourite in his neighbourhood where he is pursued by all the girls. Eurydice, (Marpessa Dawn, a dancer from Pittsburgh) unlike her aristocratic namesake from the myth, is a simple girl from the country, who is in awe of the city as she visits Rio for the first time. They fall in love despite the fact that he was recently engaged to Mira, superbly played by the notable Lourdes de Oliviera.
8. El Hilo Rojo (The Red Thread) Argentina, 2016 Dir Daniela Goggi
When life gets in the way. A steamy and sexy romantic drama which starts with everyones fantasy - passion on an airplane. Abril played by the delectable María Eugenia Suárez bumps into the cute Chilean Manuel played by Benjamín Vicuña. They are so hot for each other its unbearable, but it was not to be as the immigration queue gets in the way. Seven years after this this near-love encounter, Abril and Manuel meet again. Despite the fact that they are both married, it is obvious that their attraction hasn’t waned. The Red Thread of Fate is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese legend. According to this myth, the gods tie an invisible red cord around the ankles of those that are destined to meet one another in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way. But will they finally get it on?
9. Palmeras en la Nieve (Palm Trees in the Snow) Dir. Luz Gabas (2015)
This epic Spanish romantic drama is based on the novel of the same name, Palmeras en la Nieve, by Luz Gabas and stars Mario Casas and Adriana Ugarte.
10. Enamorada (In Love) – Emilio Fernández (1946)
Another film directed and written by Emilio “Indio” Fernández, one of the most known movies of the called Mexican Golden Cinema. It’s a great drama in revolutionary days which the troops of the zapatist general Jose Juan Reyes, take Cholula, Puebla. There, the general falls in love with the gorgeous Beatriz, the richest girl in the city, and they will live one of the most epic Mexican love stories. It was nominated for the Palme d´Or in 1947.
Cast: María Felix, Pedro Armendáriz, Fernando Fernández, Miguel Inclán.
