Review of Jamon Jamon (1992) by George P — 14 Dec 2007

An acquired taste. I spat it out ;). Spanish "dark comedy," perhaps similar to their interest in dark chocolate, does not quite satisfy the palate of the average American viewer, who thinks of films such as War of the Roses, or, The Adams Family, as the definition of dark comedy.

The Spanish dark comedy usually starts with a lower-class girl, who is or may be in danger of becoming a prostitute. Add incest, adultery, and murder (basically, make a full-length feature of any soap opera on daytime TV and raunch it up some), and you have a Spanish dark comedy.

And of course, the secret ingredient: make everything a metaphor, so people who like the film have something to use as a defense. The comedy, in Jamón Jamón, is on a ironic scale, the meat weighed out as its literal meaning, ham, and the occupation which surrounds it, as well as it's connotative meaning, or slang, â??dish of woman.

â?? It's more poetic than, say, American Pie's relationship in defining a slice of America, but it is just as perverse, if not more so. Anyone looking for a sexually perverse film will enjoy Jamón Jamón, as it is an unrated film, closer to NC-17 than it would be to R, but then, male nudity is not very common in American cinema, so I'm not quite sure how it would fair by American standards.

Past the sexually-driven story, their isn't much to embrace. It is interesting to see a young Penélope Cruz, however, she is rather young in the film, and doesn't have the more dynamic ability she has now, as an actress.

The style of the acting is a matter of taste, once again. I would not recommend watching this film, except to experience Spanish film making, so you can appreciate their self-made stereotypes.