Jamon Jamon

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Maria I loved the introductory speech that gave us a sense of what to expect from the movie. Even though it is 30 years old the symbology and themes are still a part of our every day lives. A must see movie! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/21/22 Full Review colin m E n j o y a b l e t a l e. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Had to turn the movie off when not only her boyfriend was forcing himself on her repeatedly, but also the guy that was harassing her nonstop in the most demeaning ways starts being a love interest of hers. This movie is not only full of toxic masculinity but also female characters obviously written by a man. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review слободан е By now a classic, though many moments in the film are not so convincing. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member All I can say is that if this is anything to go by, then the Spanish sense of humour is very different to mine. There are some great performances in the film, in fact, the whole cast (lead by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem) are very good but my, is this an odd film. It's a bizarre tale of sex, jealousy and pork that I think has a potentially good, if twisted plot hidden in there. Sadly, this just doesn't shine through and many of the scenes are jarring and unnatural. The convoluted plot of the love triangles that exist between two families, one wealthy, one poor has some very dark and twisted moments and some that are completely unexplored. I can't, for example, for the life of me fathom why Bardem and his best friend feel it necessary to go an fight a bull naked in the middle of the night. It's a scene that just seems plonked in the middle oft he action with no real consequence. Maybe I'm missing the point but I'm afraid Jamón Jamón didn't really do much for me and certainly didn't make me laugh enough. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Review In A Nutshell: I was browsing through the library and I happen to stumble upon Bigas Luna's Jamon Jamon. The decision to give this film a watch was due to the fact that I wanted to be spontaneous and wanted to expand my mind to uncharted areas of cinema. Jamon Jamon is a blend of many tones and wraps it around a tale of love, social class, and vulnerability. With every scene, one cannot predict on how the characters would react, as the film plays around with them and shows aspects of these characters that are unusually interesting. The characters driven by their sexual desires and impulses with contributing factors of social class and ambition that makes each one feel different from one another. The plot itself is melodramatic, and the Bigas' execution and the performances of his cast promotes this, leaving me at times cringing or sighing, but every once in a while he manages to surprise me with minor character development and raw magnetism from the film's cast. Jamon Jamon does not try to be luscious or sexually intimidating, instead it plays around with it, adding a comedic element to the character's reactions that keeps it from being overly serious or dramatic; which is why I find this film hilarious that when physical intimacy is not shown on screen, the film becomes operatic, but when it does start to get steamy, it manages to become funnily natural. A central issue that I had with this film is the plot's lack of direction, not exactly knowing on what it is trying to say. Luna gives the material layers of symbolism and profound ideas but it gets lost in the fundamental narrative, leaving me only engaged with the superficial aspects of the film. The film's ending becomes dramatic to the point where one cannot empathise with the relationships portrayed on screen, but it never reached to a level of being frustrating. Jamon Jamon marks the debut of the now-acclaimed Spanish actress Penelope Cruz. She was the perfect fit as this woman who is desirable and beautiful but she allows the character to not get lost in her physical sexuality; emotions and intelligence were fleshed out, allowing the decisions that she makes feel plausible. I found her performance to be brave, especially when it comes to the sexual aspects of the film, as it is clear that she is game for it and performs these scenes without boasting her own physical attractiveness; she keeps herself within the role and works hard to maintain strong emotional chemistry with her male partners. Javier Bardem, playing a man who is hired to seduce Cruz's character, was fine in the role but I have seen roles from him that are far more complex and through those he shows unrestrained dedication, while here he manages to scrape by with his inherent sexuality and does enough with it to keep his performance from feeling too stale. Jamon Jamon was a challenging film, even if its storyline is cliché and melodramatically executed, as it manages to provide thought provoking imagery and situations, though it doesn't quite justify itself by the end, and supported by the astonishing leading performance from Penelope Cruz. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Jamon Jamon

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