Quentin Tarantino's Spanish recommendations can be reconstructed from specific interviews. His comments on Pedro Almodovar, Jesus Franco and Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi make it possible to outline a selection without inventing a ranking of all Spanish-language cinema from Latin America.
Almodovar: two films and two different moments
In September 2009, during the presentation of Inglourious Basterds in San Sebastian, Tarantino named Bad Education as his favourite Pedro Almodovar film. EFE recorded the statement on 18 September. He also said he would include the Spaniard among the best directors of the previous two decades. That was a judgement made at that time, not an up-to-date ranking of his entire later filmography.
Bad Education, released in 2004, combines a reunion between former classmates, a written story and a film within a film. The identity of the person telling the story changes the way it is understood. As a critical observation, that device offers a point of contact with Tarantino's interest in narrators who control information. There is no need to turn that similarity into the literal reason for his choice, which the brief report does not spell out.
In an interview by Jacinto Anton for El Pais published in April 2023, Tarantino returned to Matador. He clarified that he liked it a great deal without proclaiming it Almodovar's best work. He highlighted the boldness he perceived in its mix of sexuality and violence compared with 1980s American cinema. The distinction matters: preferring one film in 2009 and praising another in 2023 does not require reconstructing a competition between them.
Matador is especially useful for understanding the crossing of tones that he admires: it can deal with desire, death, guilt and humour without keeping them in separate compartments. That reading of the film helps to place the comment. The development of Tarantino'sadmiration for Pedro Almodovar belongs to his specific profile.
Jesus Franco and Isasi: other forms of Spanish cinema
EFE's 2009 report also notes Tarantino's interest in Jesus Franco and his collecting of Franco's films on DVD. That detail confirms an exploration of the director's filmography. It does not let us choose a favourite title for him from among Franco's many works: the examples mentioned by a news report to describe a career do not automatically become the interviewee's recommendations.
Franco represents a different tradition from the one associated with Almodovar. His cinema moved through popular genres and markets, with a particular presence in horror and erotica. Theculture of exploitation cinemas helps to explain why that filmography may appeal to a viewer who does not organise their tastes solely around critical prestige.
In El Pais's 2023 interview, Tarantino also declared himself an admirer of Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi and praised Christopher Mitchum in A Summer to Kill, known internationally as Summertime Killer. This is a concrete example of his attention to revenge cinema. The reference broadens the selection beyond a single Spanish filmmaker, without requiring all the titles to share language, style or production circuit.
What can be called a Hispanic-American recommendation
The director's country of origin, the language of a film and the countries involved in its production are separate criteria. A European co-production shot for the international market does not automatically represent all Spanish-language cinema. Likewise, a Mexican or Argentine film needs its own attribution before being added to a list of Tarantino's favourites.
In the statements checked here, there is no general ranking of Latin American cinema. Adding Mexican cult titles simply because they seem compatible with his tastes would produce an editor's selection presented as if it were his own. The verifiable answer is more limited: Bad Education, Matador and A Summer to Kill have identifiable valuations; the admiration for Jesus Franco is documented without that source fixing a preferred film.
See the selection of films recommended by Tarantino.