Jamon Jamon [Blu-ray]

Javier Bardem & Penelope Cruz in early days in a world of all the spanish icons from ham to transhumance sheep droving in a truckstop/brothel on the meseta. Bardem plays a rather basic but attractive spanish stereotype character and Cruz smoulders as usual. Highly enjoyable. If you are familiar with the real Spain I highly recommend this (explicit sex scenes).

How many films do you get where a big ham is used as a deadly weapon? No, I'm not joking and its use by Javier Badem (never more svelte and lean) is part of this love story. Sorry to be blunt about this one - if you want to and are expecting to see probably the most beautiful woman making films today, Penelope Cruz, topless, then this is the film for you. Her breasts get kneaded like dough quite a bit in this gently erotic movie. Trouble is, the DVD transfer isn't much better than video quality, so much that is worth watching and filmed in the dark is just a dark grey mush, with an occasional shape looming about. Spanish cinema, for me, started as with many, Pedro Almodovar, often on Film 4. Different, exotic, tantalising, not always good but when he was, he really was. Then, after his Red Squirrel became one of my all-time favourites, Julio Medem and I got his box-set, almost his complete works. Now, finally, to Bigas Luna and the first DVD of three that I've bought of his. Keeping an open mind is both a necessity and a virtue when trying any new director. In Jamon Jamon, he follows themes (or they all followed each other) that are found in both Almodovar's and Medem's works - intense passion, a strong sense of Spanish identity and flair. Flair, as in having Bardem's wannabe bullfighter working in a pork curing plant (hence the ham). Little flourishes and touches that tickle the imagination and keep us interested. The 'love-triangle' scenario is a well-worn one that can get very stodgy and samey; here it is on fire and while to us rather sedate British lovers, the passion's all rather heated and OTT, you can't argue that there's a smoulder here. Yes, it does get a bit ridiculous, enjoyably, in the case of the men's underwear factory that Bardem does modelling for, researching a new line of doggy-panties and less so when the father of one of the daughter's gets on in with the kissing someone else. Gets a bit hazy.... Yes, there are periods of little activity and many will find strange some of the added twists, like the prevalence of pigs as pets. Hmmmm.... Well deserving of four stars, not a classic but a good omen for my other two Luca DVDs.

Great movie! Disc plays well. Picture less defined than today, but that's only to be expected.

Its almost as if its a copy from a VHS video not DVD quality and sound is even less inspiring video is better.

Javier Badem and Penelope Cruz in very early roles. The film is a romp. It's ornery and sexy and interesting.

I love this film... I saw it on the big screen when it was released in Spain, and wanted to have it in my DVD collection. ...it's not your "average film", but that's what makes it worth watching :)

I really like this film. I had high expectations of it because so much hype surrounds Jamón Jamón, and I was far from disappointed. It's a story about life on the periphery, both of society and geographically. Set in the back of beyonds in Spain, it surrounds the life of a prostitute's daughter and her dealings with two young men in the town. Complex relationships, love webs (not triangles - this film certainly does not do anything in half measures) and plain raw lust, this film is simply 90 minutes of complete twists. The most unpredictable film I've seen in a long time - and one that does not disappoint.

Was a present. Looked all correct on quick inspection, well received.

Alles Prima, super gelaufen, gute Abwicklung. Ich bin aber nicht der Fan lange Briefe zu schreiben, wie hier angefordert ist.

un très bon film de Bigas Luna comme le cinéma espagnole peut en produire,une comédie dramatique pleine d'humour, le jeu des acteur est excellent.

Awesome

The great Bigas Luna has just passed away, and I have rushed to get whatever movies I did not yet have. For years i had a second copy of Jamon, Jamon, the first time Cruz and Bardem were together, in a fateful move that years later would make them a couple. Both were dazzlingly beautiful and given ample opportunities to flaunt their charms. An irreverent premise (a contest to determine what male has the best equipment to launch a line of male underwear that quickly turns into a tragedy of Lorca's proportions. I have waited for years for it, since many of Bigas' mvies, including his awarded La teta y la luna, can only be found in Region 2 format. Get it NOWW! A word of caution: this film contains all of the themes that Bigas Luna was going to obsess over in subsequent movies, especially his fixation on female breasts, stallion males, and enough soap to fill an entire TV afternoon. Not for minors, not for schools. Bardem's character is really a ham salesman, hence the title. I think this movie had a direct influence on Almodovar's early "What Have I done to Deserve This".

ペネロペファンなら絶対もっといたほうが良い一枚です。まだあどけないところが良い