25 Famous Movie Quotes from Incredible Spanish Movies

Do you like watching films and learning famous movie quotes? Kill two birds with one stone, and learn a new language while you’re at it! With these phrases, you’ll be able to grasp local culture of the origin countries of these pieces and become a Spanish-speaking film connoisseur. 

Read this article to improve your abilities on colloquialisms in Spanish, dive into Hispanic culture, and even learn some puns. I’ve included a trivia section at the end so you can practice your newfound Spanish skills with quotes from the most famous Hispanic movies. 

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How to Learn Spanish with Famous Movie Quotes

Famous movie quotes are beneficial to Spanish learners and movie lovers for many reasons.

First, the fastest way to learn a new language is to fall in love with the culture it comes from. One way of doing so is through arts such as cinema. 

Second, these phrases introduce you to local slang. So, if you’re planning a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, you can study while watching a worthy piece of art.

Third, these famous movie quotes help you understand local humor and use of irony. 

Piece all of this together and you will see there is a great value in learning Spanish through this technique while feeding the movie lover within you.

7 Funny Famous Movie Quotes

This section of funny famous movie quotes has a little bit of everything: irony, puns, jokes, and cleverness. Latin humor is known for being witty and quick on its feet. 

1. ¡Cuando el panadero es malo le echa la culpa a la harina!

Character: Raquel

Film: Subida al Cielo

English translation: “When the baker is bad, he blames the flour!”

A lot of funny Mexican Spanish quotes like this exist. Humorous analogies that depict common actions normally have to do with professions, animals, or food.

2. Tú deja de hablar como español, si eres de Puebla. 

Character: Germán Noble

Film: Nosotros los Nobles

English translation: “Stop speaking like a Spaniard, you’re from Puebla.”

Nosotros los Nobles is a blockbuster movie from the 2010s. It’s the second highest grossing Mexican movie in history. The characters are members of a rich family. Gonzalo Vega is a hardworking, self-made businessman who wants to give his spoiled kids a lesson. 

This iconic phrase is referring to his soon-to-be son-in-law who pretends to be from Spain (which is relatable because a lot of people do that in Mexico) although he was born in Mexico.

3. Dicen que la viudez es el estado ideal de la mujer. 

Character: Catalina Guzmán

Film: Arráncame la Vida

English translation: “They say that widowhood is the ideal state of women.”

This movie is poetry brought to the screen. It is an allegedly true story about the powerful and rich family of a former Mexican president. The film’s female star is witty, clever, smart, and sensitive. Watch the movie to find more famous movie quotes.

4. Cuando un veneno está vencido… ¿es más o menos dañino?

Character: Cocinera

Film: Relatos Salvajes

English translation: “When poison has expired… is it more or less harmful?”

Wild Tales is a set of stories told in Argentina, where the craziest things happen. It’s about common people at their limits, and the radical decisions they make to get out of a mess. It’s hilarious and raw. 

5. Se está haciéndola dura, eso es muy típico de las chicas vascas; eso y cortarse el flequillo que parece que le han dado un hachazo.

Character: Rafa

Film: 8 Apellidos Vascos

English translation: “She’s playing a tough girl, that is so typical of Basque women; that and cutting their bangs to look like they’ve been cut with an ax.”

This is a cult film that offers a sneak peek into Spanish culture and traditions. You can see how people treat each other depending on where they were born in Spain. Also, if you listen closely, you will be able to spot the differences in accents. 

6. Tú te pegas una semanita en Sevilla en Semana Santa y el cuerpo lo que te pide es ser español.

Character: Rafa

Film: 8 Apellidos Catalanes

English translation: “You go one week to Seville over Easter, and your body will ask you to be Spanish.”

This sequel to 8 Apellidos Vascos is just as charismatic as the first movie. The main characters are from different regions of Spain, and they think, speak, eat, marry, and behave very differently from one another. 

7. Esta noche hay luna roja, dicen que vuelve loca a la gente. No necesitamos ningún eclipse para eso. 

Character: Ana y Antonio

Film: Perfectos Desconocidos

English translation: “There’s a red moon tonight, they say it drives people mad.

We don’t need an eclipse for that”.

This movie features love quotes and other phrases about life, but the funny ones are the best. The story is about a red eclipse that emanates strong energy that drives people crazy. 

5 Famous Movie Quotes with Life Lessons

These famous movie quotes about life are the kind that stay with you forever. 

8. Señorita, perdóneme que un pelado, porque soy un pelado para usted, le recuerde que si somos diferentes no es ni por culpa mía ni por méritos de usted.

Character: José Juan Reyes

Film: Enamorada

English translation: “Miss, I am sorry to be nobody because I am nobody to you; it reminds you that if we are different it isn’t my fault nor your merit.” 

In Mexico, this is what we call  a cachetada con guante blanco (literal translation: a slap with a white glove). It’s a classy response to an unfair, racist, clasist, chauvinist, or spoiled person. It also happens to be poetic and keeps you thinking. 

9. Porque también somos lo que hemos perdido.

Opening phrase

Film: Amores Perros

English translation: “Because we are also what we have lost.”

This disruptive Mexican movie shows violent human facets while telling three separate stories. Beautiful, moving, and iconic, this phrase has stayed in the collective mind of the viewers for 20 years.

10. Lo malo de llorar cuando uno pica cebolla no es simplemente el hecho de llorar, sino que a veces uno empieza y ya no puede parar. 

Character: Narrator

Film: Como agua para chocolate

English translation: “The bad thing about crying when one is chopping onions, it’s not simply the act of crying, but the fact that sometimes, one starts and can’t stop.”

This delightful movie is based on the novel by Laura Esquivel about human relationships and how food influences them, and vice versa. 

11. Tantas cosas perdidas. Pero todo lo que se perdió puede encontrarse de nuevo. 

Character: Narrator

Film: El Laberinto del Fauno

English translation: “So many things were lost. But everything that is lost can be found again.” 

This phrase is especially poetic, you can find it in the film that goes by the name of Pan’s Labyrinth. It is referring to the father whom 11-year-old Ofelia recently lost. She has an exceptional journey ahead of her to find him.

12. Al final, de eso se trata la niñez: de escuchar los secretos de los adultos y aprender así a comprender su mundo… Y sobrevivirlo. 

Character: Narrator

Film: El Laberinto del Fauno

English translation: “At the end, that’s what childhood is about: Listening to the grownup’s secrets and learning to understand their world… and survive it.”

This dark fantasy movie has plenty of lessons about life, love, spiritual and emotional adventure, and much more. It is one of the most famous movies made by director Guillermo del Toro.

Popular Sayings – Refranes

13. Las penas con pan son menos.

Character: Nacha

Film:  Como agua para chocolate

English translation: “Pains with bread are less.”

This famous refrán is a variant of “griefs with bread are less” from the classic book Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra. 

14. Sólo las ollas saben los hervores de su caldo. 

Character: Nacha

Film: Como agua para chocolate

English translation: “Only the pots know the boils of their broth.”

This popular saying transcended the screen to become part of popular culture. This 1990s story plot is raw, relatable, and has the essence of an extremely traditional Mexican family.

5 Famous Movie Quotes about Love

Love quotes may be romantic, cheesy, or cliché. But all of these famous movie quotes about love make you think.

15. Amar es más difícil que matar.

Character: Rosario Tijeras

Film: Rosario Tijeras

English translation: “To love is more difficult than to kill.”

Rosario Tijeras is a violent woman who seeks revenge after her boyfriend was killed point blank. Death becomes easy to her, while love is a different story.

16. ¿Y ustedes qué, se quieren o se van a querer?

Character: Toña la Negra

Film: Arráncame la Vida

English translation: “What about you? Do you love each other or will you love each other?”

This is a clever phrase by a clever character. She knows that the couple she is talking to will inevitably fall in love. She only wants to know if it has already happened or if it is to happen afterwards.

17. El amor no se piensa, se siente o no se siente.

Character: Pedro

Film:  Como agua para chocolate

English translation: “Love is not thought about, it is felt or not felt.”

Pedro confesses his love for Tita in a desperate, supplicant way. He has never found a moment to be alone with her, and when he gets the chance he expresses his feelings hastily.

18. En tus ojos me imagino el mar, aunque nunca haya ido.

Character: Ulises

Film: Amarte Duele

English translation: “In your eyes, I imagine the sea, although I’ve never been.”

Impossible love stories are a favorite subject of Mexican movies. In this cult film, a poor guy and a rich girl try to overcome tragedies. In the meantime, they show us the purity of teenage passion and infatuation.

19. ¿Sabes a qué cosa se le dedican muchas canciones? Exacto, al amor. Bello, feo, triste, alegre, fuerte, débil, […] violento, soñado, olvidado, antiguo, moderno. 

Character: Hache

Film: 3 Metros Sobre el Cielo

English translation:  “Do you know what a lot of songs are dedicated to? Exactly, to love. Beautiful, ugly, sad, joyful, strong, weak, violent, dreamy, forgotten, old, modern.” 

3 Metros Sobre el Cielo is a Spanish film that’s full of famous movie quotes. Actor Mario Casas spray paints 3MSC over a pedestrian bridge to demonstrate his love. At the time, hundreds of bridges were painted with that acronym around the world. Tres metros sobre el cielo or “3 meters over the sky” is the place where main characters Hache and Babi can be together without anyone to impede their love. 

4 Famous Movie Quotes about Female Empowerment

Female empowerment has become a common theme in the film industry, so I can’t leave it out of this list of famous movie quotes. 

20. ¡Eh, tranquilo machote que hace mucho que las princesas nos manchamos las manos y no pasa nada!

Character: Gin

Film: Tengo ganas de ti

English translation: “Hey, cool it bug guy, princesses have stained our hands for a long time and nothing happens.”

21. He conocido una chica. Gin. […]. Pues es el nombre de una loca, una que hace lo que le da la gana y que no le da explicaciones a nadie. 

Character: Hache

Film: Tengo ganas de ti

English translation: “I have met a girl. Gin. Well it is the name of a crazy woman, one who does whatever she pleases and offers explanations to no one.”

Tengo Ganas de Ti is the continuation of 3MSC. It focuses on the independence of the female lead and the maturity of both main characters.

22. Ella también creía en los cuentos de hadas. Creía en el cuento más peligroso de todos: aquel en que un príncipe la salvaría. 

Character: Narrator

Film: El Laberinto del Fauno

English translation: “She also believed in fairy tales. She believed in the most dangerous tale of all: that one where a prince would save her.”

Ofelia’s mother Carmen believes she won’t survive without a man protecting her. So after her husband dies, she remarries Captain Vidal, the villain of the story. 

23. Era una de esas mujeres que buscan fuerza en los hombres en vez de buscarla en su propio corazón.

Character: Narrator

Film:  El Laberinto del Fauno

English translation: “She was one of those women who seeks strength in men instead of seeking it in her own heart.”

Although these phrases refer to a woman who depends on men, it is clear that the director is trying to get a message about self-confidence and bravery across to the viewers. 

Religious/Christmas Quotes From Famous Movies

24. Si quieres hacer reír a Dios, cuéntale tus planes. 

Character: Susana

Film:  Amores Perros

English translation: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans”. 

While this is a Woody Allen quote, it was printed on our minds in Spanish when we saw Amores Perros in the 2000s.

25. Lo que pasa es que tenemos que detener a Tito que es un ex duende de Santa que está a punto de acabar con la Navidad y con el Polo Norte.

Character: Chícharo

Film:  Navidad S.A.

English translation: “ What happens is that we need to stop Tito who is a former elf of Santa, who is about to end Christmas and the North Pole”.

Navidad S.A. is a movie full of magic and… reality. This is a story where Santa Claus exists in times of climate change and capitalism. So he has to face global warming, and with this, the possible destruction of the North Pole. 

But he also has to face Tito, a former elf who wants everyone to stop believing in Christmas so he can profit from having the gift business all to himself.

This Christmas quote is especially funny because of the tone that Chícharo uses while saying it. 

Pop Quiz!

Practice remembering what you’ve learned. Remember to answer in Spanish!

1. Ulises, the main character of Amarte Duele says he has never been to a place but can see it in his girlfriend’s eyes. What place is it?

2. According to this Mexican drama, there is a way to lessen pains, what is that?

3. “Cuando el panadero es malo…

4. “Saving a _________ soul must be much more complicated that dissecting an iguana”.

5. She believed a prince would save her. What kind of story is that?

Click here to see the answer key!

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Answer Key

1. El mar

2. El pan

3. Le echa la culpa a la harina.

4. Pecador

5. Un cuento de hadas.