Jamón jamón
Jamón Jamón | |
---|---|
Directed by | Bigas Luna |
Written by | Cuca Canals Bigas Luna Quim Monzó (Dialogue) |
Produced by | Andrés Vicente Gómez |
Starring | Penélope Cruz Javier Bardem Jordi Mollà Stefania Sandrelli Anna Galiena Juan Diego Tomás Martín |
Cinematography | José Luis Alcaine |
Edited by | Teresa Font |
Music by | Nicola Piovani |
Distributed by | United States Academy Entertainment Inc |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 mins |
Country | Spain |
Language | Spanish |
Jamón Jamón (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈmoŋ xaˈmon]; Template:Lang-en) is a 1992 Spanish romantic comedy-drama film directed by Bigas Luna and starring Javier Bardem, Jordi Mollá and Penélope Cruz in her debut film. It centers on a young woman named Silvia played by Cruz. The movie engages in word play and pun and rhapsodises on the juxtaposition of old and new in Spain and many other emotional contrasts such as erotic desire and food.[1]
Plot
In a lone building on a busy road going through an arid desert in Spain, the beautiful Silvia spends her evenings making potato omelettes to sell at the factory where she works sewing men's underwear. Her mother Carmen works as a prostitute in a roadside brothel nearby. José Luis, pampered son of the factory owners, has been seeing Silvia on the side and when she tells him she has missed two periods, he picks up a soda can tab from the ground to serve as an engagement ring and promises he will stand by her. He cannot promise marriage until he can convince his wealthy parents that she will be a suitable bride.
Appalled, his mother Conchita refuses approval but his father Manuel refuses to intervene. Conchita then decides to get rid of Silvia, by finding somebody to seduce her. She picks Raúl, an aspiring bullfighter and part-time model. After his advances are repulsed a few times Raúl is genuinely smitten by Silvia, and he starts to woo her in earnest. Meanwhile Conchita comes to desire Raúl for herself. Alarmed at the failure of her ploy, she gives Raúl a motorcycle as an enticement.
Enraged by all this, José Luis forces himself upon Silvia to revenge himself against Raúl. Desperate to keep Raúl, Conchita seduces him at the isolated ham warehouse that she supervises. José Luis arrives and is furious. Seizing upon hams to use as weapons, the two men fight, which results in the death of José Luis, while Raúl is badly wounded. With Conchita weeping over her injured lover, her husband Manuel arrives with Silvia. The two comfort each other, he having lost his son and she her fiancé. Then Silvia's mother Carmen turns up to embrace the corpse of José Luis, her lost son-in-law and (in her professional capacity) client. In a timeless moment, across the desert a shepherd herds a flock of sheep.
Cast
- Penélope Cruz as Silvia
- Javier Bardem as Raúl Gonzales
- Jordi Mollà as José Luis
- Stefania Sandrelli as Conchita, José Luis' mother
- Anna Galiena as Carmen, Silvia's mother
- Juan Diego as Manuel, José Luis' father
- Tomás Penco as Jose Gabrieles, Raúl's friend
Production
The film was shot on the Monegros desert near Zaragoza.
In Spanish, jamón means "ham." In one scene José comments that the taste of Silvia's two breasts is like ham.[2][3]
Awards
Bigas Luna won the Silver Lion at the 1992 Venice Film Festival for the film.[4]
Soundtrack
"Házmelo otra vez" (Concha Valdés Miranda)
References
- ^ Ham Ham
- ^ Jamón, jamón Archived 2009-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Jamón Jamón review 2007-05-01
- ^ "Bigas Luna: acclaimed Spanish director dies at 67". BBC News. 8 April 2013.
External links
- 1992 films
- 1990s romantic comedy-drama films
- 1990s erotic drama films
- Spanish films
- Spanish romantic comedy-drama films
- Spanish-language films
- Spanish satirical films
- 1990s sex comedy films
- Films directed by Bigas Luna
- Films shot in Barcelona
- Spanish erotic drama films
- 1992 comedy films
- 1992 drama films
- Films scored by Nicola Piovani