Jamón Jamón (1992) watch online HD

...to get this movie but it surely helps.

It's a bit sad to see so many reviews which so totally miss the point, and none of them from Spain. One negative reviewer even thought the film was set in Mexico which goes to show how much attention he was paying.

This film is a satire on various aspects of Spanish culture and character, primarily machismo and sexual hypocrisy, but taking in culinary preferences, attitudes to animals and those surreal brandy adverts in the shape of bulls that any visitor to Spain will be familiar with. Bigas Luna chucks it all in the stew and turns the heat up to maximum.

And why are so many people upset by the trucks? The film is set next to one of those long dusty highways that are so common in Spain. Of course there are trucks. Take my tip, go to Spain, rent a car, drive between almost any two big cities, stay in a motel at the side of the road, try and sleep - you will get the idea.

Bigas Luna's most noted work in North America, Jamon Jamon is a film that teeters on offensive, but does so with such sweetness and charm that it is hard to resist.

In a plot that only Luna could bring to life, young, sexy Silvia (Penelope Cruz) is engaged to and pregnant by Jose Luis, the son of underwear merchants. Silvia is too lower class for Jose Luis' meddling mother, Conchita, so she hires the young, handsome Raul (Javier Bardem) a worker in a ham factory and wannabe underwear model and bull fighter, to romance her away. But the love starved and still sexy Conchita falls for Raul, while Jose Luis frequents the bordello owned by Silvia's mother. Eventually, the two men duke it out in one of the most unique and bizarre fight scenes ever, beating each other with hams.

This is a dark and weird R-rated soap opera, in which every scene is over the top melodrama, and all characters deliver their lines like they were their last. But it works scene after scene, largely due to the directing and casting. For physical appearance, you won't find a better looking cast anywhere.

Jamon Jamon is challenging because it is so unconventional, but is also enjoyable because of its romance and passion. I enjoy Luna movies immensely and highly recommend this film along with the two that follow, Heuvos de Oro and La teta y la Luna. ***1/2 out of ****.

Anyone who can laugh at and perversely admire the absurd spectacle of his or her own grotesquely bizarre and fragile (how small a step to go from ecstatic fulfilment to abuse, and gradual dissipation) sexuality, while actually having sex, can be said to have achieved the detachment necessary to maintain a certain controlled pitch of eroticism within its course, which, needless to add, can be quite stimulating and rewarding. Bigas Luna's handling of the sex scenes in `Jamon, Jamon' always makes that 'laughing-in-the-face- and-midst-of-sexuality-in-order-to-transcend-self-defeating-high-brow-or-

sentimental-hang-ups-with-raw-sometimes-moronic-but-more-often-volcanically -exquisite-lust' attitude fully implicit, and that's why they're especially steeped in a rare erotic tension that smolders. Like most great films, Luna's Venice-Silver-Lion-Winner tries to subvert and break down outmoded but deeply ingrained rituals and methods of communication within society that need to die in order to allow the 'not-so-sly but-not-exactly-explicit-and-heavy-handed-either' imposition of its own patterns as suggestions toward new thinking and new answers to take root.

Want to see a hilarious but serious satirical film that mixes and makes superior use of eroticism, surrealism, gross out scenes, and a fantastic music score ? Look no further than these 90 minutes. As far as I know the longest nose to nose lip kiss with a fly on the face of one of the kissers is in this film. Penelope Cruz in at least 4 sex scenes very generously breastfeeding two different and equally hungry lovers (one of whom happens to be this year's oscar nominated actor Javier Barden) is also in this film and should more than serve to turbocharge red-blooded male libidos. A very gross scene involving a very annoyed pig that comes close to being the only appearance of beastiality in an R-rated film is in this flick. And, oh yeah, in case I forget, the scene of the two guys bullfighting buck naked which puts a new spin on, and pays an homage of sorts to the famous schlong-dangling naked wrestling scene in Ken Russell's `Women in Love' is also in this crazy film. Liked it very much. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, especially for further seriously disturbing the mental imbalance of squeamish Americans used to Julia Roberts Soap Operas.

I wouldn't recommend Jamon Jamon to everyone I know, because the humour and the plot are idiosyncratic, to say the least. I regarded this films as a massive, but not at all serious, send-up of machismo and how it interacts with greed and lust. Above all, it is meant to make you laugh, rather than portray some profound message about the human condition. For example, although I can't speak for the Director, I suspect that the naked bullfight scene was simply meant to be absurd and make you laugh. Anyone who thinks it is pretentious has simply missed the point and is pretentious himself because he is reading things into the scene which are non-existent. Not everyone will find a scene like that funny but I personally was in stitches, as I was during the parrot scene, the ham fight scene and many other eminently unforgettable scenes. What I can't say in all honesty is that everybody else in the auditorium found it quite as funny as I did.

'Jamón, jamón' is a tremendously creative movie by director José Juan Bigas Luna and his writing partner Cuca Canals (Son de mar, Volavérunt, Bámbola, Lumière et compagnie, La Teta y la luna, and Huevos de oro), a film that is a dark comedy but not in the ho-ho manner: the comedy is the human comedy and watching it evolve may at times make the viewer avert the eyes because of its truthfulness.

Silvia (a very young Penélope Cruz) lives with her prostitute mother (Stefania Sandrelli) in a truck stop bordello, obviously in the lower caste of society. Silvia works in the Under Wear factory owned by the parents (Anna Galiena and Juan Diego) of Penelope's boyfriend José Luis (Jordi Molla). Penelope is pregnant by José Luis but of course this low class association will never do to his mother so she sets about to distract Silvia from José Luis's attentions. Enter a ham seller and wannabe bullfighter Raúl (the very buff and hunky young Javier Bardem) who is a macho as they come (a night scene where Raúl and his handsome friend played by Tomás Martín fight a bull in the nude is the pinnacle of machismo!) whom the mother hires to distract Silvia. But the plot thickens when the intended coupling becomes crazily rearranged (Raúl has sex with José Luis's mother, José Luis seeks out the corporal companionship of Silvia's prostitute mother, José Luis's father grasps for Silvia, etc) until the sextet comes to a strange ending on the twilight plains of Spain.

This color-saturated movie by cinematographer José Luis Alcaine is a visual delight and the accompanying musical score by Nicola Piovani adds just the right amount of spice. But it is the extraordinary acting of the young actors who were to become international stars - Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Jordi Mollà - that bring the excitement and aura of sensuality to this very controversial film. José Juan Bigas Luna is a terrific combination of Dalí, Almodóvar, Cocteau, and Buñuel, but he carries his dark comedic sense into the critical eye of the human microscope. The film is a delight and a joy to see, if only to watch the three big names at their early stages! Grady Harp

This is a very entertaining film. Bigas Luna (director) loves life and all it's weirdness and beauty, which is rather evident in this wonderful film. Definitely a cure for boredom or sadness. The plot turns gets crazier as the film unfolds. Nothing is too much in this imaginative film. A must for all lovers of black comedy. Do also check out Mr Lunas "Teta y la luna, La (1994).

This movie should be a favorite for lovers of black comedy such as "Fargo". The director develops many love triangles, uses dense symbolism and an extremely off-beat yet fast paced editing technique to tell a tale of "ham and passion". It is very funny and Penelope Cruz is terrific. A must see for lovers of satirical black comedies.

A small Spanish town is dominated by two businesses , -an underwear factory and a brothel- both run by strong-minded women . In the factory works as an executive , Manuel (Jordi Mollá) , chief's (Juan Diego) son , and also his girlfriend Sylvia (Penélope Cruz was 16 years old when this movie was made) works on the shop floor making male underwear . The brothel's Carmen (Anna Galiena) and the Factory's Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) clash when Carmen's daughter becomes pregnant by Manuel . When Sylvia falls pregnant , Jose Luis promises her that he will marry her , most likely against the wishes of his parents ; to be aware Conchita , she is appalled and seeks an extreme solution . As his mother to be opposed to this relationship to a young girl from a lower-class family , and she then hires stud Raul (Javier Bardem) , to seduce Sylvia , only to fall for him himself .

Weird melodrama satirizing various aspects of the Spaniard characters , including machismo , ¨Toros and Toreo¨ , food and sex . The special film title ¨Jamón , Jamón¨ , that's why in Spanish, the word "jamón" means ''ham'', while a ''jamóna'' is a ''dish of a woman" . This is a decent film , being first part of Bigas Luna's "Iberian Trilogy" , it is stylishly photographed and smartly designed . Here Bigas Luna delivers his ordinary and erotic goods in cool sense of style , but including a lot of unkindly characters . Entertaining and modern picture filled with young roles and concerning a beautiful girl who wishes a better life and becomes involved with a passionate triangle . This stirring as well as erotic story is a touching retelling and moving tale about wishes , lies and disappointments , but including strong sex scenes with loads of nudism . This interesting flick results to be a moving tale about ambition , desire , luxury and poorness . As usual in Bigas Luna films , ¨Jamón , Jamon¨ explores the darkest depths of eroticism and Latinos stereotypical , including the Spanish machismo . So-so acting by a very young Penélope Cruz who becomes pregnant , she plays an obstinate girl whose naïve dreams are soon shattered by the ruthlessness and mediocre Jordi Mollá as Jose Luis , an executive at his parents underwear factory who wants to marry Sylvia . The best acting is given by Javier Bardém as a potential underwear model and would-be bullfighter , he represents perfectly the typical ¨Iberian macho¨ who attributes his sexual prowess to a steady diet of garlic and ham . Support cast is frankly extraordinary , such as as Stefania Sandrelli as Conchita , Jose Luis' mother , who is determined to break her son's engagement and Anna Galiena as a mature prostitute who runs a brothel . Furthermore , a colorful and evocative cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine who was first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lightning and deemed to be one of the best Spanish cameramen . Alcaine frequently works with Pedro Almodóvar , Bigas Luna and Vicente Aranda , as he has photographed ¨The skin I live in¨ , The bad education¨ , ¨Volver¨ , ¨Women in the verge of a nervous breakdown¨, among others . And a sensitive musical score by Nicola Paviani , including an enjoyable leitmotif .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Bigas Luna , following his particular style , though is is full of nudism , intercourses and Softcore . He often uses in his films twisted events , erotic scenes and surrealist images , here including Goya/Luis Buñuel frames-alike . He was a Bon Vivant who along with his wife , produced wine , ham , and organic products ; they are well shown in his films . For 39 years, under General Francisco Franco's repressive regime , it was almost impossible for Spain to create a vibrant film industry and for talented film-makers to express themselves freely . However, after the death of the Generalissimo in 1975, there was a burst of creativity, with Pedro Almodóvar paving the way for directors such as Bigas Luna , who has died of cancer aged 67 . In 1990 the producer Andrés Vicente Gómez persuaded him to return to cinema and entrusted to him the direction of Las Edades De Lulú (The Ages of Lulu) , an erotic drama about a young woman exploring extreme sexual practices , this was a commercial hit . Without abandoning his dedication to painting and photography , reflected in numerous exhibitions , he began the well-known "Iberian Trilogy" with Jamón Jamón ("Ham, Ham", 1992) , Huevos de Oro ("Golden Balls", 1993) and La Teta y La Luna ("The Tit and the Moon", 1994) which explored the darkest depths of eroticism and stereotypical Spanish machismo . Jamón Jamón, which launched the careers of both Javier Bardem and the 16-year-old Penélope Cruz was a major international success and won the Silver Lion at Venice in 1992 . The latter introduced Penélope Cruz to audiences and launched Javier Bardem as the embodiment of the Spanish stud . "I owe my career to Bigas Luna" , Bardem said in 2001 . Cruz returned in ¨Volavérunt¨ (1999), a film about the relationship between Francisco Goya and the Duchess of Alba . His last film was ¨Di Di Hollywood¨ with Elsa Pataki that failed at box office until his recent death .

Many of us do not think of ham and sex having any sort connection. But never before will you witness a film that so strategically intertwines the two. The film's director, Bigas Luna does a wonderful job of mixing these two elements together, making many of the scenes quiet hysterical. In one of many strange and awkward scenes, a fight between Jose and Raul erupts, fighting with slabs of ham for Silva's (Penelope Cruz) heart.

Even though we are flooded with absurd comedy, sex has to do with everything; it is what drives the film. To many viewers who have never seen a similar Spanish film, Jamon, Jamon will appear pornographic. There is an abundance of skin shown by the actors and actresses, such as the naked bull fight scene. The sex scenes are awkward and comical, throwing our own idea and perception of sex into question.

Bigas Luna does not attempt to balancing, romance, sex, food, drama, and comedy. Had he done this we would be confused about our own emotions, leaving us unsure of how to feel. There is certainly a sense of drama in the film, for example when Silva (Penelope Cruz) falls in love with Raul, the man that was hired whisk her away. Instead of the audience feeling emotionally saddened for Silva, Bigas Luna decides to make us laugh, instead of cry. Turning the whole situation into a sex circle with everyone involved.

Overall, the film was very entertaining the entire 95 minutes. Anyone (adults) who watches the movie on a literal level will laugh hysterically.

Jamón, jamón is a dark, sexy, disturbing and very sarcastic romance, that mercilessly satirizes Spanish mentality and culture, though it can't in all honestly be labeled a comedy. It's no surprise that its most passionate advocates, as well as critics, are Spanish; but to the non-Spanish viewer, it's still an entertaining and captivating film. Unfortunately, it suffers from an amateurish execution that sometimes makes it feel more like a Spanish soap opera than a feature, and since the satire will go over many viewers' heads, the poor character development, melodramatic and unconvincing acting, and often mishandled cinematography may be quite off-putting. Director Bigas Luna clearly shares many passions and tastes with the more world-famous Pedro Almodóvar, but he can't match Almodóvar artistry and visual flair; the heavy-handed symbolism, quirky sexuality and scenes that are apparently weird for the sake of weird make it feel like an Almodóvar rip-off (which it's not) and make it harder to appreciate the stronger scenes and the biting satire.

For non-Spanish viewers, the film's main draw is getting to see Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem very early in their careers; while their top-billing position make it look like Stefania Sandrelli and Anna Galiena are the stars (probably because they were much bigger names in 1992) Cruz and Bardem are not only the real leads but also provide the film's best acting by far, so much so that whenever the scene cuts to one where neither one appears, the TV-soap feeling is suddenly much more pronounced - Sandrelli, Galiena and Jordi Mollà are ludicrously over-the-top, which is part of the point, but Cruz and Bardem manage to transcend that ludicrousness and their characters' flatness and are enough to make the film flow quite well. Fans of either one should definitely check it out; for them or for anyone else, it's a memorable and unusual film, worth your time, but very flawed and should not be approached with very high expectations.

I approached Jamon Jamon with much anticipation, it was recommended by a close friend by whom it was described as an abstract, witty, satirical comedy; a film with ups, downs, and naked bull fights. I had to see this film. However, after an hour and half of sketchy performances, one-dimensional characters, and a barrage of farcical, poorly interwoven sub-plots, i found myself quite disappointed.

Jamon Jamon possesses all the components of what promises to be an entertaining movie: Quirky, abstract dialogue, offbeat humour, and dark yet comic scenarios. During the initial stages of the movie I felt engaged and involved, concerned about the young misguided couple, and the situation in which they find themselves. However as the film progresses seemingly irrelevant scenes of attempted quirkiness grow all too frequent. You get the distinct impression that Luna is simply attempting to emulate a directorial style established by his more experienced, capable predecessors. Not to discredit the movie to harshly. Luna is clearly able to produce scene's that are moving, profound, and original, there is simply insufficient character development so ultimately you begin to feel indifferent about the outcome of their predicaments.

In conclusion, Jamon Jamon is a noble failure, but a failure all the same. It has all the makings of a quality movie but is let down by it's composition, I feel it lacks a certain intimacy and distances the viewer in it's latter stages when we're meant to feel most involved. If you're a Luna's fan a recommend you see it, just don't get your hopes up to high.

Bigas Luna is being touted as the new Pedro Almodovar in this Spanish comedy. I don't know about that, but the film is funny and interesting and a chance to see a lot of Penolope Cruz in her first film. Thae fact that you get a bonus with Italian beauties Anna Galiena and Stefania Sandrelli as the mothers just makes it more interesting.

The story is basic fare of the telenovella: Rich boy falls in love with prostitutes (Stefania Sandrelli) daughter (Penolope Cruz) and gets her pregnant; boy wants to marry her, but can't tell his domineering mother (Anna Galiena); boy's father is one of mother's biggest clients and doesn't want to get involved; when mom finds out, she pays her lover (Javier Bardem) to break up the pair; lover falls in love with girl; rich kid goes crazy; big fight with ham bones; death.

Let's see, there is a nude bullfight at midnight, some unnatural act with a pig, lots of references to ham, and lots of underwear modeling - male, that is - since that is where they make their money. In fact, it is Javier Bardem's filling out of the underwear that attracts him to momma.

Some really weird stuff - almost surreal at times - makes this a must see.

I saw this many years ago and was surprised at how many people liked it. I ventured to watch a few more popular Spanish films of the time but have yet to find something which I enjoy. Bizarre story lines yes, but so utterly pointless.

--Spolier-- The part I most enjoyed was the very end of the film where the main characters all killed each other. What a relief it was for me to see them all killed off and to know that it was finally the end of the show!

I would love to find some good Spanish film making, but perhaps the good stuff just isn't getting the publicity?

I happened to catch this movie on cable last night and found it to be truly fascinating even though I had to concentrate on reading the sub titles instead of looking at the picture and listening. Miss Cruz totally owns this film but ALL the acting is excellent. The raw passion of the main characters holds the viewer's attention throughout. Jamon Jamon is only Penelope's second movie according to her film biography but she shows NO inhibitions in her portrayal of a young passionate woman seeking love and fulfillment. Even her mother and potential mother-in-law are steaming with sexuality and seeking passionate liaisons. The potential father-in-law also gets a bit of titillation from the character so beautifully portrayed by Miss Cruz.

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.

What this movie is probably best known for, if known at all, is for being the debut film of Penelope Cruz. For those who want to see her early work, and in this case without a shirt on for a while, it is a decent debut. You cannot go wrong appearing alongside Javier Bardem.

But for me, what stands out is the quirkiness. The interviews of male underwear models, the way an underwear factory works. I have no idea if it is accurate, but it seems authentic. And this is quite likely the first (and last) time a movie featured a pig getting a suppository. Very odd.

What is it about this movie that so many people love it and others hate it with the same intensity? Could it be the bestial nature of the sub-text? Do those who throw scorn on this piece of surrealistic tortilla live so far from their darker carnal nature that they have to express distaste, cast it out, make it shadow, unclean? This film comes from a long line of Spanish surrealist cinema. One could argue that surrealism on film had it's beginnings in Spain and is now only practiced in the Spanish speaking world with any degree of sophistication (barring perhaps David Lynch). So much of this film is iconic, totemic and archetypal. Bigas in fine Spanish culinary tradition makes a great paella with these icons, 'the lonely dry, dusty road', 'the arid landscape with its passionate inhabitants', 'the machismo homo-erotica of bullfighting', 'the domineering matriarch', 'the loving whore', 'the battle of the hams' and the list goes on. Maybe if you haven't been to central Spain you won't have touched and tasted these oh so familiar dishes but they exist throughout societies. In Spain they just turned them into cultural landmarks, olé. The only reason for the lower rating of this is that Bigas Luna surpassed this film a couple of times with 'Golden Balls' and the simply brilliant 'Tit and the Moon'

The only reason I am giving this movie a three is because there are a few funny scenes in what is mostly a very poor film. You might object to the somewhat boring relentlessly and unthoughtfully stereotypical treatment of Spanish love relations, or to what is, in my experience, the most facile use of symbolism (bull=phallic=machoman) in film (which is saying quite a bit since, sorry, but film is still, as Werner Herzog remarked, "The illiterate genre"). The comic potential of the movie---for it does start out with a few possibilities---is wasted on a botched attempt at drama, which, oddly enough, is so bad that it is risible. Again and again I am surprised how film-makers can put together such complete rubbish---and with impunity. A waste of celluloid and time.

An average erotic drama, different one. I honestly watched this movie only for Stefania Sandrelli, for me she is one of the best and hottest actresses of all time.

A fun yet seedy, colorful yet dark, over the top yet on some level touching romantic comedy by Bigas Luna, of whom I have only yet seen the fantastically depraved titles 'Caniche' and 'Bilbao'. And, even if this one is not as great, it is certainly good enough. Penélope Cruz alone made sure of that.

The (soap opera like) story goes well into overdrive as it nears the end. Fortunately, Luna keeps the humour, the cinematic side of things and the stinging social satirical comments fully intact. Although, that final scene... it's wáy out there, I'll give it that!

A good 7 out of 10.

Very interesting the way Bigas Luna joins together many elements: surrealism and realism, Italian new-realism and Almodovar's humorist notion in some situations. Certainly, a typical Spanish film of great inspiration which turns to nothing, because of the exaggerated plot about sexual relations with improper persons... same person for mother - daughter, son! - thus resuming to an idea of very bad notion about morals in Spain - both for wealthy and poor. Although acting was very good, also the photography. I mention the excellent acting of Javier Bardem who keeps all the interest in this film, with his role of a "payed lover" turned to a deeply in love desperado of the type of those who have nothing to loose except their own life... in a relationship which starts as a joke and turns to a drama.

Jose and Silvia are in love, and she is pregnant, so they decide to marry, but his mother doesn't want it and contract Raul to seduce Silvia in order to break this marrying. Bigas Luna makes a film to laugh about his own Spanish topics: Paella, Jamon, Toros...all mixed with some strange love stories that results on a yawning 90 minutes movie with only two or three things decent: The hams fighting between Raul and Jose and the bodies of a very young Penelope Cruz (by far, the best thing of the movie, maybe underage) and Javeier Bardem. The rest of the things, the jokes, the surrealistic setting does nothing more than annoy and bore. There's things better to do rather than seeing this film.

"Jamon, Jamon" is an okay movie. It's supposed to be a comedy, but I didn't really laugh. I was never really bored, but nothing really hit me as funny. Although I did learn that Mexico has a very small amount of bras. I learned that because the lead character never seems to wear a bra. She just walks around in see through dresses. The parts that weren't intended to make you laugh are too melodramatic to give off any real feeling. I think the dumbest scene in the movie is when the two guys go bull fighting naked. And the final scene was trying very hard to be deep. But it was just too melodramatic to give off anything. And all that lies between the first scene & final scene, is a bunch of confused people, sleeping with everybody. In other words, "Jamon, Jamon" came off as a 94 minute, uncensored soap. 5 out of 10.

I loved this movie. A perfectly delightful piece for fetish voyeurs. Mixes food with sex and animals. Delightful comedy with pigs, tacos, garlic and parrots. Something for everyone from getting erections during bull fighting to eating a pet pig. Penelope Cruz is fantastic as is what´s his name that played the cripple in Live Flesh. See Bigos´ earlier films if you liked this one. I recommend both Golden Balls and Luna, or Lua. This director has imagination and his cast is always fantastic.

Jamón, jamón is one of my favorite Spanish movies. In my opinion it's simply a masterpiece of early 90s Spanish cinema art. It merges all aspects I appreciate in a good film: Excellent actors - Penélope Cruz's and Javier Bardem's first movies ever -, bursting sexual energy in combination of romantic relationships, an exaggerated but creative and profound story and sentimental pictures.

If you don't share this passion for Spanish movies, the exaggerations in the story line and characters and the thrilling sexuality might bother you. But still, for Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem alone it's worth to watch it.

Jamon Jamon... And yet another Spanish sex comedy. This one tries to satirize macho dominance, although at times one wonders if director Bigas Luna is just using the film as a card announcing that he's coming out of the closet, from the opening shots of Javier Bardem's rear and crotch. Too many elements seem familiar (pregnant unmarried girl, a disapproving mother, a love triangle that turns into a quadrangle that turns into a more complicated geometric figure), as if the story was coming out of the Manual for Writing Foreign Films That Get Played In the USA. Actually, despite the familiarity, this part is charming and captures your interest... if you are into romantic/erotic comedies. Many good jokes fly by. Some genuinely erotic moments happen. Then Bigas Luna tries to make it as offbeat as possible by displaying many scenes of cruelty towards animals, incessantly buzzing flies, a dream sequence, slow-motion shots, the occasional pretentious "repulsion" shot (e.g. a lizard crawling out of the eye socket of a doll), anti-erotic close-ups of lips during erotic scenes, and taking many psychodynamic twists that Freud would have been interested in. The deeper you get into the film, the more these scenes happen. Unfortunately, it is mostly badly done and pretentious. Some of it is due to low-budget limitations and lame editing. But some of it is just plain bad film-making and lazy writing.

Please, everyone involved in Spanish-language "art" wannabe films, be you Spanish, Peruvian, Mexican, Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, or from any other applicable country: you do not qualify as an art film just because in the end you randomly kill off one of the main characters and lazily dodge writing a resolution to the complicated scenario you created! And no, it does not make it better if this happens in the middle of a desert! Stop killing off people in the desert! Most people don't live in a desert, much less live there, hence its name! Sand does not make art! Besides, the death is not even believable! Also, if your name is not John Woo or Brian DePalma, I'm sorry, you should not use slow-motion, because you don't know how to use it.

As for the film's main satirical point, it seems that at one point Bigas Luna wanted to show women dominating men who pretended to be strong macho guys, but at the end if you re-examine it, it seems that Bigas Luna is really showing older people dominating younger people sexually, regardless of gender. If anything, at least the actors are game, particularly Bardem, Galiena, and Cruz, although Penelope Cruz fans should know that she doesn't look as pretty here as she does in other films. People who are just watching this for erotic value should quit half-way into the movie, as in "Betty Blue", as the latter part of the movie leaves an anti-erotic taste.

In the end, all of the interesting scenes and ideas are ruined by misguided aspirations towards art. A shame.