Lee Eisenberg
Bigas Luna's "Jamón Jamón" is one of many Spanish black comedies focusing on relationships, in this case between a young woman working in an underwear factory, and the son of the factory's owner. It's the only Luna movie that I've seen, although I understand that his movies often have food themes. The movie also functions as a look at the contrasts between Spain's past and present, just as much as it looks at the relationships among the various characters. Some of the scenes seem as if their purpose is to shock you, but the whole thing adds up to a solid focus on its characters. Who would've guessed that two decades after the release, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz would be an item?I bet that those things DO taste fine!
ma-cortes
A small Spanish town is dominated by two businesses , -an underwear factory and a brothel- both run by strong-minded women . In the factory works as an executive , Manuel (Jordi Mollá) , chief's (Juan Diego) son , and also his girlfriend Sylvia (Penélope Cruz was 16 years old when this movie was made) works on the shop floor making male underwear . The brothel's Carmen (Anna Galiena) and the Factory's Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) clash when Carmen's daughter becomes pregnant by Manuel . When Sylvia falls pregnant , Jose Luis promises her that he will marry her , most likely against the wishes of his parents ; to be aware Conchita , she is appalled and seeks an extreme solution . As his mother to be opposed to this relationship to a young girl from a lower-class family , and she then hires stud Raul (Javier Bardem) , to seduce Sylvia , only to fall for him himself .Weird melodrama satirizing various aspects of the Spaniard characters , including machismo , ¨Toros and Toreo¨ , food and sex . The special film title ¨Jamón , Jamón¨ , that's why in Spanish, the word "jamón" means ''ham'', while a ''jamóna'' is a ''dish of a woman" . This is a decent film , being first part of Bigas Luna's "Iberian Trilogy" , it is stylishly photographed and smartly designed . Here Bigas Luna delivers his ordinary and erotic goods in cool sense of style , but including a lot of unkindly characters . Entertaining and modern picture filled with young roles and concerning a beautiful girl who wishes a better life and becomes involved with a passionate triangle . This stirring as well as erotic story is a touching retelling and moving tale about wishes , lies and disappointments , but including strong sex scenes with loads of nudism . This interesting flick results to be a moving tale about ambition , desire , luxury and poorness . As usual in Bigas Luna films , ¨Jamón , Jamon¨ explores the darkest depths of eroticism and Latinos stereotypical , including the Spanish machismo . So-so acting by a very young Penélope Cruz who becomes pregnant , she plays an obstinate girl whose naïve dreams are soon shattered by the ruthlessness and mediocre Jordi Mollá as Jose Luis , an executive at his parents underwear factory who wants to marry Sylvia . The best acting is given by Javier Bardém as a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter , he represents perfectly the typical ¨Iberian macho¨ who attributes his sexual prowess to a steady diet of garlic and ham . Support cast is frankly extraordinary , such as as Stefania Sandrelli as Conchita , Jose Luis' mother , who is determined to break her son's engagement and Anna Galiena as a mature prostitute who runs a brothel . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameramen . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others . And a sensitive musical score by Nicola Paviani , including an enjoyable leitmotif . The motion picture was compellingly directed by Bigas Luna , following his particular style , though is is full of nudism , intercourses and Softcore . He often uses in his films twisted events , erotic scenes and surrealist images , here including Goya/Luis Buñuel frames-alike . He was a Bon Vivant who along with his wife , produced wine , ham , and organic products ; they are well shown in his films . For 39 years, under General Francisco Franco's repressive regime , it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely . However, after the death of the Generalissimo in 1975, there was a burst of creativity, with Pedro Almodóvar paving the way for directors such as Bigas Luna , who has died of cancer aged 67 . In 1990 the producer Andrés Vicente Gómez persuaded him to return to cinema and entrusted to him the direction of Las Edades De Lulú (The Ages of Lulu) , an erotic drama about a young woman exploring extreme sexual practices , this was a commercial hit . Without abandoning his dedication to painting and photography , reflected in numerous exhibitions , he began the well-known "Iberian Trilogy" with Jamón Jamón ("Ham, Ham", 1992) , Huevos de Oro ("Golden Balls", 1993) and La Teta y La Luna ("The Tit and the Moon", 1994) which explored the darkest depths of eroticism and stereotypical Spanish machismo . Jamón Jamón, which launched the careers of both Javier Bardem and the 16-year-old Penélope Cruz was a major international success and won the Silver Lion at Venice in 1992 . The latter introduced Penélope Cruz to audiences and launched Javier Bardem as the embodiment of the Spanish stud . "I owe my career to Bigas Luna" , Bardem said in 2001 . Cruz returned in ¨Volavérunt¨ (1999), a film about the relationship between Francisco Goya and the Duchess of Alba . His last film was ¨Di Di Hollywood¨ with Elsa Pataki that failed at box office until his recent death .
gavin6942
Jose Luis is an executive at his parents' underwear factory where his girlfriend Sylvia works on the shop floor. When Sylvia falls pregnant, Jose Luis promises her that he will marry her, most likely against the wishes of his parents.What this movie is probably best known for, if known at all, is for being the debut film of Penelope Cruz. For those who want to see her early work, and in this case without a shirt on for a while, it is a decent debut. You cannot go wrong appearing alongside Javier Bardem.But for me, what stands out is the quirkiness. The interviews of male underwear models, the way an underwear factory works. I have no idea if it is accurate, but it seems authentic. And this is quite likely the first (and last) time a movie featured a pig getting a suppository. Very odd.
Simon
What is it about this movie that so many people love it and others hate it with the same intensity? Could it be the bestial nature of the sub-text? Do those who throw scorn on this piece of surrealistic tortilla live so far from their darker carnal nature that they have to express distaste, cast it out, make it shadow, unclean? This film comes from a long line of Spanish surrealist cinema. One could argue that surrealism on film had it's beginnings in Spain and is now only practiced in the Spanish speaking world with any degree of sophistication (barring perhaps David Lynch). So much of this film is iconic, totemic and archetypal. Bigas in fine Spanish culinary tradition makes a great paella with these icons, 'the lonely dry, dusty road', 'the arid landscape with its passionate inhabitants', 'the machismo homo-erotica of bullfighting', 'the domineering matriarch', 'the loving whore', 'the battle of the hams' and the list goes on. Maybe if you haven't been to central Spain you won't have touched and tasted these oh so familiar dishes but they exist throughout societies. In Spain they just turned them into cultural landmarks, olé. The only reason for the lower rating of this is that Bigas Luna surpassed this film a couple of times with 'Golden Balls' and the simply brilliant 'Tit and the Moon'
