Jamón Jamón

Plot synopsis:
Silvia, a beautiful girl, sews underwear at an underwear factory owned by José Luis' family and prepares omelettes (tortillas de patatas) for extra income. After missing two periods, Silvia reveals to José that she is pregnant, expecting him to react negatively. However, to Silvia's surprise and delight, José Luis expresses his love for her and desire for her to go through with the pregnancy. He romantically picks up the ring from a soda can he finds on the ground and places it on her finger and tells her they will get married. Despite the apparent monetary worthlessness of this item, Silvia cherishes it and all that it symbolises.
José Luis has a difficult time explaining to his overbearing and conniving mother that he is in love with Silvia and intends to marry her. His mother, Conchita, does not approve and when her husband refuses to help her by intervening, she takes matters into her own hands. She hires Raúl, an underwear model who works for the family business, to seduce Silvia, hoping this will destroy the relationship and prevent the marriage. In spite of several aggressive attempts by Raúl to seduce Silvia, she remains committed to marry José Luis. Raúl however, becomes genuinely infatuated with Silvia while Conchita's lust for Raúl leads her to offer him anything he wants if only he has sex with her. Raúl's choice is a Yamaha FZR600 motorbike so, despite his apparent lack of interest in Conchita, he becomes her lover.
Meanwhile, José Luis's inability to come to a decision about whether to marry Silvia without his mother's approval leads to Silvia's deciding she wants a "real man", one who has gumption. She begins to take interest in Raúl. Conchita does not approve of this relationship either because she wants Raúl for herself. Silvia, in the meantime, starts responding to Raúl's advances. This enrages José Luis, who nearly rapes Silvia and swears to kill Raúl.
The film ends with a fight to the death between José and Raúl. José Luis catches Raúl having sex with Conchita and engages in duel with legs of ham for weapons. José Luis is eventually killed by Raúl. Just as the couple grieve over José Luis, Silvia and José Luis's father arrive, followed by Silvia's mother. The films ends with a peculiar grieving scene, which reiterates the recurring themes of primal instincts, infidelity, and destruction.

Tags: murder, violence, psychedelic, satire, melodrama, romantic

Review:
...to get this movie but it surely helps.It's a bit sad to see so many reviews which so totally miss the point, and none of them from Spain.
One negative reviewer even thought the film was set in Mexico which goes to show how much attention he was paying.This film is a satire on various aspects of Spanish culture and character, primarily machismo and sexual hypocrisy, but taking in culinary preferences, attitudes to animals and those surreal brandy adverts in the shape of bulls that any visitor to Spain will be familiar with.
Bigas Luna's most noted work in North America, Jamon Jamon is a film that teeters on offensive, but does so with such sweetness and charm that it is hard to resist.In a plot that only Luna could bring to life, young, sexy Silvia (Penelope Cruz) is engaged to and pregnant by Jose Luis, the son of underwear merchants.
Silvia is too lower class for Jose Luis' meddling mother, Conchita, so she hires the young, handsome Raul (Javier Bardem) a worker in a ham factory and wannabe underwear model and bull fighter, to romance her away.
But the love starved and still sexy Conchita falls for Raul, while Jose Luis frequents the bordello owned by Silvia's mother.
Eventually, the two men duke it out in one of the most unique and bizarre fight scenes ever, beating each other with hams.This is a dark and weird R-rated soap opera, in which every scene is over the top melodrama, and all characters deliver their lines like they were their last.
Bigas Luna's handling of the sex scenes in `Jamon, Jamon' always makes that 'laughing-in-the-face- and-midst-of-sexuality-in-order-to-transcend-self-defeating-high-brow-or-sentimental-hang-ups-with-raw-sometimes-moronic-but-more-often-volcanically -exquisite-lust' attitude fully implicit, and that's why they're especially steeped in a rare erotic tension that smolders.
Like most great films, Luna's Venice-Silver-Lion-Winner tries to subvert and break down outmoded but deeply ingrained rituals and methods of communication within society that need to die in order to allow the 'not-so-sly but-not-exactly-explicit-and-heavy-handed-either' imposition of its own patterns as suggestions toward new thinking and new answers to take root.Want to see a hilarious but serious satirical film that mixes and makes superior use of eroticism, surrealism, gross out scenes, and a fantastic music score ?
Penelope Cruz in at least 4 sex scenes very generously breastfeeding two different and equally hungry lovers (one of whom happens to be this year's oscar nominated actor Javier Barden) is also in this film and should more than serve to turbocharge red-blooded male libidos.
A very gross scene involving a very annoyed pig that comes close to being the only appearance of beastiality in an R-rated film is in this flick.
'Jamón, jamón' is a tremendously creative movie by director José Juan Bigas Luna and his writing partner Cuca Canals (Son de mar, Volavérunt, Bámbola, Lumière et compagnie, La Teta y la luna, and Huevos de oro), a film that is a dark comedy but not in the ho-ho manner: the comedy is the human comedy and watching it evolve may at times make the viewer avert the eyes because of its truthfulness.Silvia (a very young Penélope Cruz) lives with her prostitute mother (Stefania Sandrelli) in a truck stop bordello, obviously in the lower caste of society.
Enter a ham seller and wannabe bullfighter Raúl (the very buff and hunky young Javier Bardem) who is a macho as they come (a night scene where Raúl and his handsome friend played by Tomás Martín fight a bull in the nude is the pinnacle of machismo!) whom the mother hires to distract Silvia.
But the plot thickens when the intended coupling becomes crazily rearranged (Raúl has sex with José Luis's mother, José Luis seeks out the corporal companionship of Silvia's prostitute mother, José Luis's father grasps for Silvia, etc) until the sextet comes to a strange ending on the twilight plains of Spain.This color-saturated movie by cinematographer José Luis Alcaine is a visual delight and the accompanying musical score by Nicola Piovani adds just the right amount of spice.
But it is the extraordinary acting of the young actors who were to become international stars - Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Jordi Mollà - that bring the excitement and aura of sensuality to this very controversial film.
Bigas Luna (director) loves life and all it's weirdness and beauty, which is rather evident in this wonderful film.
Comedic melodrama satirizing several Spanish characters such as as food , bullfighting , underwear clothes and many other things.
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 .
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 .
Here Bigas Luna delivers his ordinary and erotic goods in cool sense of style , but including a lot of unkindly characters .
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 .
He often uses in his films twisted events , erotic scenes and surrealist images , here including Goya/Luis Buñuel frames-alike .
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 .
The film's director, Bigas Luna does a wonderful job of mixing these two elements together, making many of the scenes quiet hysterical.
In one of many strange and awkward scenes, a fight between Jose and Raul erupts, fighting with slabs of ham for Silva's (Penelope Cruz) heart.
To many viewers who have never seen a similar Spanish film, Jamon, Jamon will appear pornographic.
Bigas Luna does not attempt to balancing, romance, sex, food, drama, and comedy.
There is certainly a sense of drama in the film, for example when Silva (Penelope Cruz) falls in love with Raul, the man that was hired whisk her away.
Jamón, jamón is a dark, sexy, disturbing and very sarcastic romance, that mercilessly satirizes Spanish mentality and culture, though it can't in all honestly be labeled a comedy.
Unfortunately, it suffers from an amateurish execution that sometimes makes it feel more like a Spanish soap opera than a feature, and since the satire will go over many viewers' heads, the poor character development, melodramatic and unconvincing acting, and often mishandled cinematography may be quite off-putting.
Director Bigas Luna clearly shares many passions and tastes with the more world-famous Pedro Almodóvar, but he can't match Almodóvar artistry and visual flair; the heavy-handed symbolism, quirky sexuality and scenes that are apparently weird for the sake of weird make it feel like an Almodóvar rip-off (which it's not) and make it harder to appreciate the stronger scenes and the biting satire.For non-Spanish viewers, the film's main draw is getting to see Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem very early in their careers; while their top-billing position make it look like Stefania Sandrelli and Anna Galiena are the stars (probably because they were much bigger names in 1992) Cruz and Bardem are not only the real leads but also provide the film's best acting by far, so much so that whenever the scene cuts to one where neither one appears, the TV-soap feeling is suddenly much more pronounced - Sandrelli, Galiena and Jordi Mollà are ludicrously over-the-top, which is part of the point, but Cruz and Bardem manage to transcend that ludicrousness and their characters' flatness and are enough to make the film flow quite well.
I approached Jamon Jamon with much anticipation, it was recommended by a close friend by whom it was described as an abstract, witty, satirical comedy; a film with ups, downs, and naked bull fights.
However, after an hour and half of sketchy performances, one-dimensional characters, and a barrage of farcical, poorly interwoven sub-plots, i found myself quite disappointed.Jamon Jamon possesses all the components of what promises to be an entertaining movie: Quirky, abstract dialogue, offbeat humour, and dark yet comic scenarios.
Luna is clearly able to produce scene's that are moving, profound, and original, there is simply insufficient character development so ultimately you begin to feel indifferent about the outcome of their predicaments.In conclusion, Jamon Jamon is a noble failure, but a failure all the same.
Miss Cruz totally owns this film but ALL the acting is excellent.
Jamon Jamon is only Penelope's second movie according to her film biography but she shows NO inhibitions in her portrayal of a young passionate woman seeking love and fulfillment.
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.
This film comes from a long line of Spanish surrealist cinema.
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.
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'.
Certainly, a typical Spanish film of great inspiration which turns to nothing, because of the exaggerated plot about sexual relations with improper persons...
I mention the excellent acting of Javier Bardem who keeps all the interest in this film, with his role of a "payed lover" turned to a deeply in love desperado of the type of those who have nothing to loose except their own life...
Bigas Luna makes a film to laugh about his own Spanish topics: Paella, Jamon, Toros...all mixed with some strange love stories that results on a yawning 90 minutes movie with only two or three things decent: The hams fighting between Raul and Jose and the bodies of a very young Penelope Cruz (by far, the best thing of the movie, maybe underage) and Javeier Bardem.
I think the dumbest scene in the movie is when the two guys go bull fighting naked.
It merges all aspects I appreciate in a good film: Excellent actors - Penélope Cruz's and Javier Bardem's first movies ever -, bursting sexual energy in combination of romantic relationships, an exaggerated but creative and profound story and sentimental pictures.If you don't share this passion for Spanish movies, the exaggerations in the story line and characters and the thrilling sexuality might bother you.
This one tries to satirize macho dominance, although at times one wonders if director Bigas Luna is just using the film as a card announcing that he's coming out of the closet, from the opening shots of Javier Bardem's rear and crotch.
Too many elements seem familiar (pregnant unmarried girl, a disapproving mother, a love triangle that turns into a quadrangle that turns into a more complicated geometric figure), as if the story was coming out of the Manual for Writing Foreign Films That Get Played In the USA.
If anything, at least the actors are game, particularly Bardem, Galiena, and Cruz, although Penelope Cruz fans should know that she doesn't look as pretty here as she does in other films.
People who are just watching this for erotic value should quit half-way into the movie, as in "Betty Blue", as the latter part of the movie leaves an anti-erotic taste.In the end, all of the interesting scenes and ideas are ruined by misguided aspirations towards art.
A young Penelope Cruz is the centerpiece of "Jamon, Jamon", a comedy/drama which doesn't manage to conjure up much of either.
I knew what areas of the film the director intended to be of a humorous nature but I'm sorry, it failed to rouse even a titter from me.I shouldn't apologise, I know, but I felt sorry for Penelope Cruz who was absolutely fantastic.
Here's the chance to see an eighteen year old Penelope Cruz in a sex comedy with her future husband Javier Barden.
This movie is truly a classic display of what Spanish Cinema looks like.
This movie was critically acclaimed for the way it looked at machismo in Spanish culture.
I saw it a long ago and i a little forget,but,what i didnt forget was a mixed and entangled story as also different person(actors) with passion,love,forbidness.This movie has really a drama structure,and it seems realy spanish.Also the color in movies,simbolizm,atmosfer of what will be the end makes this movies great.I must see it again.Great work 4 register B.L..
While in Jamon, Jamon you have the setup of a mother trying to interfere in her son's love life, zany madcap antics do not ensue.There are some laughs in this movie, but it is not a comedy..
They were already one soul in "sin noticias de dios" and there, their first movie meeting makes good memories: running after a pig in the night!Sure, it's always raw, messy and tidy and the movie is disrespectful of a lot of values: the love stories shuffle like a deck of cards, the beloved animals are ultimately eaten.
It has the feeling of a Lynch movie all the more than it had strange dreams, bizarre shots of food, animals As it deals ultimately about the relationships between a rich and a poor family, food, love, sex, it's very basic, clear, and ultimately, i liked it..
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.
Penélope Cruz was born 1974 in this 1982 film and Stefania Sandrelli plays not the rôle of her mother but that of her character's boyfriend, José Luis..
'Jamón, Jamón', made in typical Bigas Luna style, is an amusing mindf**k of an erotic comedy.
Bigas Luna also references to several movies that clearly have inspired him like Ken Russell's 'Women in Love'.
Of course, 'fighting with ham' sounds funny for americans (bizzare for everyone else in the world) but it isn't in this movie.
Bigas Luna is being touted as the new Pedro Almodovar in this Spanish comedy.
Thae fact that you get a bonus with Italian beauties Anna Galiena and Stefania Sandrelli as the mothers just makes it more interesting.The story is basic fare of the telenovella: Rich boy falls in love with prostitutes (Stefania Sandrelli) daughter (Penolope Cruz) and gets her pregnant; boy wants to marry her, but can't tell his domineering mother (Anna Galiena); boy's father is one of mother's biggest clients and doesn't want to get involved; when mom finds out, she pays her lover (Javier Bardem) to break up the pair; lover falls in love with girl; rich kid goes crazy; big fight with ham bones; death.Let's see, there is a nude bullfight at midnight, some unnatural act with a pig, lots of references to ham, and lots of underwear modeling - male, that is - since that is where they make their money.
I ventured to watch a few more popular Spanish films of the time but have yet to find something which I enjoy.
Bizarre story lines yes, but so utterly pointless.--Spolier-- The part I most enjoyed was the very end of the film where the main characters all killed each other.
What a relief it was for me to see them all killed off and to know that it was finally the end of the show!I would love to find some good Spanish film making, but perhaps the good stuff just isn't getting the publicity?.
The only reason I am giving this movie a three is because there are a few funny scenes in what is mostly a very poor film.
Penélope Cruz alone made sure of that.The (soap opera like) story goes well into overdrive as it nears the end.
From the very start of the movie, with a bulge shot of Raul (Javier Bardem) to the rape scene of Silvia (Penelope Cruz), the film presents a sordid tale of "love" among twisted minds and perverted people (as each character partners with another throughout the whole film.) You cannot mistake this movie for a wholesome film because sex is literally shoved down your gut every second as it is peppered with symbols of dogs, pigs, a parrot, ham (as the title so gives away), pearls and what have you, which emphasize on the already obvious theme of the movie--sex, while showering you with loads and loads of sex sequences.
The characters are given no dignity and the director doesn't give one any reason to sympathize with them.A ray of light or salvation for this film comes when Silvia after being forced into sex stands up and fights for her "womanity." She runs to her lover Raul and again, engage in sex.
hence, "Jamon, jamon." (I'd club this film with a ham too!