Customer Reviews

Jamon Jamon [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I had the privilage of seeing "Jamon Jamon" in the theatre several years ago, thank you.

Anyway, "Jamon Jamon" (translation: Ham Ham) takes it's story straight from those overblown dramas of the 1980's like "Dynasty" or "Knot's Landing". The twist is just how far these characters will go to fulfill their "lustful" desires in spite of the consequences. Although every character in the film is dead serious, this is actually a comedy, and not a bad one at that. A sort of "Dallas goes Airplane" without the cheap gags.

To describe the plot without giving away too much is daunting, but here goes; A young man has gotten his girlfriend pregnant. His parents, who run a successful underwear business, dissaprove of their son marrying the daughter of a prostitute. So his mother hires one of the underwear models to seduce the girlfriend, but the mother falls for the underwear model.

With me so far, good. Here's where it gets complicated;

The young man (remember him?) is also having a dallience with the young girl's mother (the prostitute). Meanwhile, the underwear model manages to seduce the young girl, but is still bedding down with the mother (the underwear Mother). The young man has now become insanely jealous which leads to a confrontation with the underwear model. The father of the young man is about the only character with his head on straight, but even he gets involved in this mess.

The performances are first rate and the sex/nude scenes are plentiful. Perhaps the most outlandish is a bullfight with the matadors in the nude (definately something for the ladies...and perhaps a few guys as well).

Those interested in seeing what a young (19 years old at the time) Penelope Cruz looks like nearly naked will not be dissapointed. This film is definately not for the kids.

Overall, "Jamon Jamon" is a very well made comedy whose laughs come from the characters, not from any "jokes". I can certainly recommend it to those looking for a more "sophisticated" sex comedy. The type that American film makers have trouble pulling off...so to speak.

Trivia: The box cover depicts probably the most dramatic sex scene in the film. Problem is, the two people depicted are not the actors in the scene. Perhaps it's a rip on Romance novel book covers?

O.K. it may not be a five star movie, more like four but if you're a Penelope Cruz fan like me you'll love it. Seeing her half clothed body frequently throughout the movie makes you glad they invented rewind and pause controls on your antiquated vcr. Seriously though this is a very sexy and smart movie about two of the things most of us love most, food and sex. Spanish cinema has a certain flair for exploiting those issues most dear to us in the most unusual manner. The movie is very funny, more so if you understand Spanish culture, and the imagery used to convey the issues at hand are most visually dramatic. The story evolves primarily around the life of Jose Luis who is the wealthy son of a domineering mother whose family is in the underwear business. Not sexy yet? Enter Javier Barden("High Heels" and "Live Flesh)" as Raul, a novice bullfighter, underwear model and soon to hired lover to interfere with Jose Luis's love interest. He's a confident Spanish stud who takes no prisoners in his conquering of women. Still doesn't sound sexy? O.K., now for the best part of this movie, Penelope Cruz is Sylvia the pregnant girlfriend of Jose Luis and is the leading lady in this tale of twisted love triangles. The sexy Sylvia is torn and her future in-laws make her decision more difficult. Lots of unpredictable liasons develop that may be immoral but if taken as a satirical romp quite funny and entertaining as opposed to shocking. Some of the scenes are a riot like when the two machos sneak into a bull ranch late at night for a little clandestine bullfighting by the moonlight. The daring bravado of the two machos is illustrated so beautifully and the scene transition is just as wild as they run from their persuers.Without describing and ruining the scene suffice to say that the fact that two young men would go to such great lenghts to prove their macho is hilarious. It is scenes like this that make for memorable Spanish cinema with a quirky message hidden in celluloid reminiscent of Aldomovar. Very funny stuff worth the price of admission alone just to see a very young Penelope Cruz at her sexiest.

"Jamón, Jamón" is a kind of "souvenir" of spanish culture. Bigas Luna is fantastic - always - and Bardem in this movie is still an unknowed actor, at least for "americans viewers" or maybe "americans 'voyers'" (because his caracter is an almost sexual [freak] guy...)There is something surrealist in the movie, and this is what make it very spanish. After Garcia Lorca and other artists from the begining of the century, everything in Spain seems surrealist: things are not an easy "nonsense", but a different way to show the real world where the Moral does not exist, and Poetry and a very fine point of view are leaders. It's a five star movie for the ones who are interested in culture. Also, if you like the most famous Spain sons - Pedro Almodóvar and Joaquín Cortez - it's a nice excuse to know some of their "relatives" (olders and youngers)and to begin a "cultural spanish research" just for fun (and just for life)!

With the artistic repression that Spain felt with the dictatorship of Franco, many artists have expressed themselves above and beyond anything that North Americans are used to. Jamon Jamon is a film that pokes fun at controversial issues, something that is a little touchy in our own society. We can watch this movie and laugh, thinking of it as foreign but in the end finding that it represents many things that we are faced with in our own society. Some people may see it as being too outrageous and on the edge, but then if you just open your mind and laugh at the situations, you will soon see the true meaning. We have a prostitute who's daughters boyfriend is one of her clients. That daughter then becomes pregnant with said boyfriend who's family is rich, enough said, the rest of the movie is a battle of love, sex, machismo and money. There are many spanish symbols in this movie that are important in understanding the serious themes, so I recommend that if you do decide to watch this movie, do it with an open mind and a sharp eye (pay close attention to the pig and bull references) Don't try and compare this film to american movies because Jamon Jamon's storyline is some how more appealing, entertaining and sophisticated than any american movie you have ever seen.

As an amateur purveyor of foreign film, I was absolutely delighted with this movie. It is racy, fantastically funny, deviant, with a definitive quirkiness reminiscent of Almodovar films.

I blindly picked it off the video shelf and sprung it on a group of friends on movie night, to which it was met with raging applause after we recovered from falling off the couch from laughing so hard. If you like foreign film, definitely give this one a try! Guaca!

A great example of eclectic spanish movie making staring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, both of whom obviously went on to great things. The story and dialog is quintessentially spanish and may not resonate fully in English, but the ending is fantastic in any language.

In particular, if you are a fan of Bardem's outstanding recent work, you will want to see him in this movie. His character drives the movie and is full of amusing surprises while Cruz does her thing, which works a lot better in Spanish than English, in my view.

This movie is so sexy it make Like Water for Chocolate seem drab. And is there any actress out there sexier than Penelope Cruz?

After removing the huge amount of censorship that existed in Spain during the dictorship of General Franco there was a realease of tension. This is evident in comparing Jamon Jamon(Ham Ham) and Marcelino Pan y Vino(Mareclino Bread and Wine). The first example was done after the removal of the censorship; therefore, not only are there things that would never be acceptedby the government, but moreover, Jamon Jamon takes that extra step by making a parody of everything that is typically Spanish. An example of this is having two people fighting with legs of Jamon. Ham being something which Spain is known for like Canada is known for hockey. I thought that it was very funny; just imagine having two people fighting over the love of a woman with two hockey sticks. On the other hand we have the book in question Marcelino Pan y Vino which was made during the censorship. This implies that only things that the government thought to be acceptable was allowed. For example there would be nothing against the government or the church. The author gave the government exactly what they wanted. It was made right after the civil war in Spain and the country needed help with it's small population and the rebuilding of Spain; therefore, the author makes everyone have a big family and everyone helping one another. An example of this is the town people helping the monks rebulid the monastery. This worked well because the effect was that people had more children and a lot of the children born at the time were named Marcelino. I enjoyed both of these two works for two different reasons. I liked Marcelino Pan y Vino because it is unbelieveable that it had such a strong effect to have people name their children Marcelino. However, I would have to give my preference to Jamon Jamon because of the evident Freedom of Speech and Expression taht was lacking in Marcelino Pan y Vino. It is hilariously funny. It is very interesting learning the culture and history of Spain studying works like this. Even though Jamon Jamon may not be for everyone because some people might no understand the humor and just think that it is some strange European thing. An example of this "weirdness" ... . I highly recommend Jamon Jamon and Marcelino Pan y Vino to anyone with an open mind and is looking for a really fun way to learn a little bit about the history and culture of Spain.

Yes, this film is done in a very Spanish tradition of surrealism. Yes, deep and dark humor present at most times. Yes, Penelope Cruz is very sexy and good, as Javier Bardem is, too. But, this film fails to even come close to Bunuel's or Almodovar's genius. It is not bad in its own right, but it is not the best film to come out of Spain in recent years. I am sure there are many wonderful Spanish films being made every year; we just don't see them.

Camera work is bad at times; at other times, the plot becomes annoying.

Javier Bardem is hired by his lover, a "jamona" (i.e. older woman), to seduce beautiful working girl Penélope Cruz, whose boyfriend (jamona's son and a certified imbecile) is madly in love with. Superb acting -particularly gorgeous-beyond-hope Cruz-, lots of twists and turns and a stunning visual production; it's good to know Luis Buñuel is alive and well, living in Bigas Luna's head!

If you can read in Spanish, don't miss the credits at the end: you'll get the last laugh!