Ranking the Spanish Videos
and Why Bosque is the Best

(a.k.a. Jim’s Top Five Spanish Videos)

As the world’s foremost expert on the films featured on this site, I have taken it upon myself to rank my favorites.

Para el Amor de Dinero (1989) is excluded from the rankings because neither Andy nor I was directly involved with its production. And, well… because I only saw it that one day in class more than 30 years ago.

And I’ll tell you why.

1. Bosque (1993)

Andy Kropa’s superb film demonstrates Spanish Video VHS storytelling at its most mature and skilled. With just a few terse, well‑composed scenes, an intriguing science fiction premise is revealed. We meet a man in peril, like the hero of a Kafka story, whose fate portends a dire future for all humanity.

Bosque is the last of the five films to be produced, and benefits from lessons Andy learned from prior efforts. He crafts a dystopian world using minimalist aesthetic and economical storytelling, reminiscent of The Twilight Zone. A series of two‑person conversations broken up by bizarre setpieces, Bosque manages to build such dramatic tension that even a wordless, slow‑speed foot chase through the woods makes for a thrilling culmination.

The film is also praiseworthy for its production value, cleverly conforming to technical constraints so that its vaguely “steampunk” vibe feels natural, plausible. Along with Zorro, Bosque shows most careful attention to art direction, costuming, props, and makeup. Its original score is another impressive asset, unique to this film.

Finally, Bosque is the work of an astute filmmaker, and it’s fun to recognize influences of cinema heroes and genre classics. At his young age, Andy had already absorbed David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, Martin Scorsese, David Cronenberg, Orson Welles, etc., and Bosque reverberates with echoes of Soylent Green, THX‑1138, La Jette, Brazil, and Blade Runner. Without Andy being specifically aware of the French New Wave, his student film thus attains the dreamy alienation of Jean‑Luc Godard’s Alphaville.

Of the five films, Bosque would be best able to stand on its own, outside the context of a group project for Spanish class.

2. Zorro (1990)

As mentioned above, Zorro excels at its production design, taking full advantage of its Iowa countryside setting. The efforts spent on costumes, props, stunts and action choreography — even Zorro on horseback! — are all on screen, successfully meeting the challenge to depict a 19^th‑century setting.

Besides that it is a period drama, Zorro’s most distinct aspects are its classic characters and simple, tender story. It is framed as a memory recounted by a traveler who had encountered «El Zorro» whilst passing through Spanish Iowa. The audience meets and grows to know the expansive humanity of Don Diego, then witnesses the confrontation with his opposite, called “Diablo”, whose heart is consumed by evil.

It is a great adventure, and particularly effective at creating the personality of Don Diego, the prominent landowner, and his relationships with his rural community of friends and neighbors. The film allows its memorable side characters their moments as well.

Choosing to borrow directly from American pop culture worked to the film’s benefit by simplifying the story from the outset. The audience can immediately recognize it, and not have to worry too much about trying to follow the dialogue — which, let’s remember, is spoken by second‑year Spanish students to other second‑year Spanish students. And in Anton’s case, he was learning Spanish via the foreign language of English instead of his native Swedish.

So the familiarity of the plot lets the audience simply enjoy the fun and adventure, and to notice what is special about this Spanish/Swedish/Iowan telling of it.

3. Las Victimas de Malentendido (1991)

The opposite of Bosque’s “less is more” aesthetic, Las Victimas unapologetically adopts a “more is more” mantra. It easily comprises the greatest number of shots and edits of any of the five films, even though its running time is about the same as the others. Fortunately, it surpasses La Suerte by more competently delivering its ambitious scope.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of Las Victimas is the strong performances by its cast, including by “day players” Mike Raymond and Lucas Moore. Props to Heidi Bruch and Thomas Welander too, for being game to play scenes in which their characters are horribly killed.

Las Victimas also distinguishes itself in its consistent technical quality. The action is clearly seen and heard, with artistic lighting setups and selective usage of an older black‑and‑white camera.

The feature which edges this film one slot higher than Sangre y Flores in my rankings would have to be its sheer spectacle: More action, more stunts, plus elaborate practical effects, all of the guns and blood. These effects, designed and built by Dave Welander, are unmatched by any of the other films on this list.

4. Sangre y Flores (1992)

Though its position is lower on the “best of” list, I have to say I am extremely fond of this film, owing to its surreal elements and the imaginative inspiration from the poem “La Torre” by Antonio Machado, which is still taught to Spanish students to this day.

These appealing aspects are why I wanted to complete this film’s restoration first, and why I suspect it will hold the most interest for our high school Spanish teachers.

Sangre y Flores incurs only small detractors, mostly technical, naturally associated with it being the first of the films Andy produced. (It takes practice to iron out those details!) And in spite of the originality of its premise, the film’s style is closely derivative of (or “homage to”) Twin Peaks, a David Lynch ‑produced TV show famously adored by arty nerds.

As expected from high-school-aged actors, the main characters’ passionate “Romeo and Juliet” romance comes across as awkward, particularly in the shots showing the two lovers together. It was a smart choice on Andy’s part to frame the longer declamations one lover at a time. Still, I’d rate Sangre y Flores (after Bosque) as the film which best showcases its cast, and gets the most storytelling mileage from its acting performances.

With respect to the plot, I’m left wondering why the lovers didn’t make their escape sooner. It seems like there is one too many trips back to the tower again, when they might have departed immediately in Azucena’s VW Beetle. But worth it to hear Stardust playing over the climactic scene of gratuitous violence.

5. La Suerte de los Dioses (1990)

Every “best of” list has its “worst best” thing. The reasons for La Suerte being the worst best are mostly to do with the filmmaker’s reach exceeding his grasp. The movie in my mind was far more grand and comedic than what was committed to video.

To its credit, the film has a couple of impressive setpieces, achieved by brazen location shooting. The concert hall scene, shot at an actual performance by the Southeast Iowa Concert Band, is one of my favorites, despite imperfect execution. (It should have been much funnier.) The scene inside Mt. Pleasant’s “Golden Corral” restaurant was also fun. As with many a no‑budget film, involving the real public (albeit without their consent) bestows “instant production value.”

In general, however, the film shows an obvious lack of attention to detail, whether with respect to continuity, framing, lighting, costumes, settings, props, special effects, stock footage, or whatever might have helped to tell the story. Its production was haphazard, typically wtih no effort at all made to conceal microphones, cables, or weird stuff in the background. We just worked with what we had on hand, shooting as fast as we could. But intercut with all the shots that look and sound terrible, there are a couple of scenes where the technical elements are immaculate. How incongruous!

Unfortunately it is not enough to just point the camera and expect the audience to understand what is going on. (For instance, how are we to know that an empty auditorium is meant to represent a full one?) As the film’s director, I suspect I even failed to explain to the actors what was supposed to be going on.

Why not have done something simpler, which would have been possible to do well? Why did the story have to involve the tired trope of an international cocaine dealer and deadly henchmen? (Because Miami Vice was popular at the time?) And why go on for thirty minutes, instead of just making a ten‑minute skit about high school kids? I guess I was trying to outdo the previous year’s hit film, but fell short of the mark.

A word about the inspiration for the plot: The idea was swiped from Sledge Hammer, a low‑budget TV comedy which aired opposite The Cosby Show for two seasons. In the first five minutes of one episode, Detective Hammer, remaining unaware he has been targeted for assassination, foils multiple attempts on his life by accident, to hilarious effect! So I give myself zero points for originality.