Penelope Cruz, Stefania Sandrelli, Anna Galiena, Javier Bardem, Jordi Molla

A mother schemes to prevent her son from marrying the daughter of the neighborhood prostitute.

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66% liked it

5,029 ratings

Critics

78% liked it

9 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Bigas Luna

Release Date: September 24, 1993

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DVD Release Date: July 27, 1994

Stats: 327 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (327)


  • February 5, 2008
    Who wouldda thought prosciutto is so fun!
  • November 25, 2007
    offbeat spanish comedy. some good laughs.
  • December 4, 2009
    "Jamon, Jamon" (roughly translated "ham, ham") is a strange Spanish film directed by Bigas Luna in 1992. It stars premium Spanish actors and award winning artists Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz to act as two lovers, trapped in an enigmatic situation and tragedy.

    It was a commu...( read more)nal tragic experience for both Silvia (Penelope Cruz) and Raul (Javier Bardem) and all other characters in the film. Odd as I would describe this film depicting an allegory about Spain. It started unusually hilarious as we could see two bullfighter wannabes Raul and his friend played by actor Tomas Martin practicing to bullfight. The scene was closely focusing on Raul's penis impressed from his tight blue shorts. Raul was like the common guy with superb sexual appeal because of his classic enviable machismo. Silvia was the daughter of a so-called whore known in town for having to own a prostitution club.

    Silvia was romantically engaged with Jose Luis (Jordi Molla), the son of a wealthy couple who owned a modeling agency and underwear factory. Conchita, Jose Luis' mother discovered from her search for the model of underwear on a billboard tough guy Raul because of her attraction to his exuberating sex appeal. Later on, their relationship turned mutual as Raul gold-digs, wishing number of material things to Conchita including a Yamaha 600 bicycle, and so forth. They made love and the process continued that way.

    Because of Conchita's blatant disapproval to her son's relationship with Silvia, she pushed Raul to aggravate the falling relationship by making himself a third party whatsoever. So Raul did what was asked of him and made himself acquainted with Silvia. But what was supposed to be a job became a real life story of love for Raul. He undeniably fell in love with Silvia and the latter as well to him. So it was a compulsive drama of failed and successful relationships set in a never determined circumstance. It was full of lust as everyone was undermined by mundane wanting of everyone else.

    Once you know that this film is about Spain, the hilarity comes to sink in automatically. You do not need to be a Spanish or to live in Spain to understand its theme. There is an overflowing amount of Libido in this film as the story progresses from time to time. As characters discover each other's sexuality, hidden desires tend to be awakened productively. It is as if having to travel in a place full of sexually active Libido-driven individuals full of lustrous sexual capabilities.

    The idea that this film tells us that there are more in the world than just pure lust and desire. People surely cannot find love in sheer attraction. There must be a friendship that can be the foundation of a good relationship. The last part photography in the film tells us that love is found in people we most likely not to expect spending it with. That was a very dramatic and lowest point in the film with couples in the desert with camera panning from left to right plus a semi low angle crane shot. It was tinted dramatically with a Spanish jazz song.



    The most entertaining thing about this film is the screenplay that is way too original, colorful, and bit playful. The cinematography although not that too outstanding but still was able to supply quality photography to the film. It uses surrealism in some parts especially the part where Silvia was having a nightmare. The style used for what I have observed, was like that of Salvador Dali's, a Spanish painter and visual artist. The psychological impact was like any of his paintings. The visual style was like Luis Bunuel's "Un Chien Aldalou" where Dali was involved mainly.

  • July 26, 2009
    It's a really special film, and it's funny too... but the ending is really disapointing...
  • July 8, 2009
    it is crazy melodrama, it is vulgar, it is over the top, it is sexy, it is a bit funny, it is strange.,
    i feel like i wanna turn this off, but i simply can not do that..
  • July 1, 2009
    this movie is great and it has some great actors and some great scenes it's a little hot but it's actually like a greek novel it has all the elements!! kinky, weird, funny, and it has love but well I'm not sure if triangles or squares!!!
    and we can see it has actors that are no...( read more)w very important you can see their quality in here!! and it has a great director because the movie is well done like good ham

    A mother schemes to prevent her son from marrying the daughter of the neighborhood prostitute.


    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. Jose Luis' mother is determined to break her son's engagement to a girl from a lower-class family, and hires Raul, a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter to seduce Sylvia.
  • May 30, 2009
    una de sus mejores peliculas en sus inicios
  • February 15, 2009
    I love the way Javier act.... Full of love and lust...
  • January 22, 2009
    Que buena película fue de las primeras que vi y que sentí que en el cine se podían hacer cosas maravillosas y diferentes Bigas sabe como entre mezclar elementos cotidianos y hacerlos impactantes
  • January 10, 2009
    No thankyou - Not interested.

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  • Penelope Cruz's first major film role was in which movie?   Answer »
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