Film: Jamon Jamon
Release date: 27th December 2000
Certificate: 18
Running time: 90 mins
Director: Bigas Luna
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Anna Galiena, Stefania Sandrelli, Juan Diego
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Studio: Tartan
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Amidst the barren landscape of rural Spain, the silhouette of a bull sways in the breeze. Echoes of vintage motorcycle engines and tinny radios fill the air, while bull-fighting and steamy passion seem a hallucination. One third of Bigas Luna’s Iberian Trilogy, Jamón Jamón indulges audiences in a passionate tale of love and lust blended with an abstract and farcical portrayal of masculinity against a contemporary Spanish background. The film juggles the themes of the stereotypical Spanish machismo, the motif of food (ham, omelettes and, oddly enough, garlic) and sexual magnetism, thus resulting in a film that is invigorating, comic, and tragic.
The film follows the lives of the seemingly star-crossed lovers Silvia (Penelope Cruz) and Jose Luis (Jordi Molla), who have plans to marry. However, Silvia’s mother Carmen (played by Anna Galiena) is the local prostitute, while Jose is heir to a fortune, the business of selling ‘Samson’ underwear.
With this connection fuelling her dislike of Silvia, Jose's malicious mother Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) makes it her mission to end their relationship. To add insult to injury, Carmen had a previous relation with Conchita’s husband and Jose’s father Manuel (Juan Diego).
Sly and manipulative, Conchita goes behind their backs and employs the assistance of a young and fiercely attractive Javier Bardem, whose early appearance in this film portrays Raul, a cocky delivery man set in the trajectory of Silvia’s affections…
Causing chaos and confusion in every scene, Raul proves to personify the stereotypical Spanish macho-man while providing comic relief in an otherwise dense narrative. The intricate web of relationships leads to an uncontrollable spiral of carnage and melodrama.
Opened to the public in 1992, Luna had chosen an important and socially pivotal year for the hedonistic and complex Jamón Jamón to be released, which happened to be during the decline of the socialist government and, at the time, of the famous Expo’ 92. It also marked the beginning of a change in the stylistic direction of contemporary Spanish cinema, seeing the Spanish film industry become more self-regulating and independent, an increase in the amount of co-productions being made, and a merging of the styles of art film and commercial cinema.
Jamón Jamón mirrors the ambiguous identity not only of Spanish cinema, but of the Spanish stereotypes most human (macho man Raul) and symbolic (the bull shaped billboard once a symbol for Veterano brandy). Bardem’s performance is passionate and strong, while Penelope Cruz introduces us to her delicate yet irresistible style of acting. The pair bring to Jamón Jamón the same on-screen chemistry which is present in Woody Allen’s 2008 film Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
The film is lusty and intriguing, presenting the audience with explicit scenes of passion and illicit affairs exempt of morals. Such a succession of partner-swapping allows plenty of openly erotic moments, partnered with the absurdity and humour that makes up the package of the film. It flawlessly combines melodrama with tragedy, jarringly switching from an energetic and sexually carefree farce ending in a collision of coincidences with grave results.
The themes concerning masculinity and femininity are clear, and are presented in a strong and fearless fashion. However, aside from the brash sexual representations and exploration of the male image, the film does not have many other factors which standout from the rest. It poses a stimulating and lively script, and the acting is admittedly impressive, but at no point during the film are the audience given the chance of relating to the characters due to the abstract and absurd nature of the plot. As mentioned before, the characters are not put forward to the audience to impose any morals or ethics; they are simply vehicles for a representation of what it is to be tangled in one of the most warped-love situations Spanish cinema has ever had to offer.
If it’s romance and happy endings you’re looking for, you’d be well advised to keep on looking. Luna brings diversity to the age-old tale of forbidden love with a touch of the grotesque and the result is fascinating. With passionate performances and enough comic relief to keep you from digging your tongue through your cheek too much, Jamón Jamón is a wonderfully lusty piece of filmic escapism. ES
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