Jamón Jamón (1992) |
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Jamón Jamón (1992) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Theatrical Trailer Trailer-Promo Notes-Director's Notes Filmographies-Cast |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1992 | ||
| Running Time | 90:22 (Case: 100) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Bigas Luna |
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Studio
Distributor |
Lolafilms Umbrella Entertainment |
Starring |
Penelope Cruz Javier Bardem Jordi Mulla Stefania Sandrelli |
| Case | Click | ||
| RPI | $29.95 | Music | Nicola Piovanni |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.75:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.66:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | Yes | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Jamón Jamón is a Spanish film about the relationships that surround a young woman who becomes pregnant to the son of a successful local business family.
Silvia (Penelope Cruz) falls pregnant to a young man, Jose (Jordi Mulla), the son of a successful local factory owner where she works. When Jose's mother, Conchita (Stefania Sandrelli) becomes aware of their attraction she employs an attractive young man, Raul (Javier Bardem), from the local ham warehouse to seduce Silvia. As Jose appears to be non-committal in their relationship, Silvia is drawn to the passionate Raul. Unfortunately, Conchita also begins a relationship with Raul. While Silvia and Conchita continue their relationship with Raul, Jose is also seeing Silvia's mother. As the group's complex relationship continues they are drawn towards an inescapable and tragic conclusion.
This film was released in 1992 and was intended by the director to be a portrait of Spain. The title refers to the Spanish cured ham known as jamón that is common throughout the country. This dish is now seen side-by-side with computers and other modern technology that contrasts with the traditional Spanish lifestyle. I personally found that this story revealed little about Spain and instead focused upon relationships that were one-dimensional with macho men and sultry women.
The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.75:1 and it is NOT 16x9 enhanced.
The transfer is always quite soft and never reveals high levels of detail at any stage. Average levels of shadow detail are displayed during the dark segments of the film. No low-level noise was detected at any time during the transfer.
The colour palette displayed during the transfer always appears slightly muted with a strong emphasis on the browns, oranges and greys of the film's bleak location.
A small amount of posterization may be seen during the transfer at 15:15, but this is only minimally annoying. A number of aliasing artefacts may be seen throughout the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 3:50, 7:12, 7:19, 7:29 and 8:17. Due to their frequency, these artefacts are moderately disturbing.
Numerous film artefacts are present throughout the transfer. Examples of these artefacts may be seen during the opening credits at 2:23, 2:31, 2:47, 3:26 and 5:14. Due to their continual presence these artefacts are quite annoying. Obvious and occasionally heavy film grain may also be seen throughout the transfer, although this is only minimally distracting.
A series of unusual artefacts may be seen throughout a scene in a nightclub beginning at 29:20. During this scene, bright sections of the image appear as black marks across the image for numerous individual frames. Further examples of this artefact also occur to a lesser extent at 27:07 and 67:01 - all are extremely disruptive. This artefact is apparently present in the source material that was used for the transfer.
Obvious, slightly irritating telecine wobble may be seen during the opening credits and at 41:43. Small pieces of fluff trapped within the telecine gate may be seen during scenes at 6:31 and 17:39.
At 56:10, the bottom of the frame moves vertically and at 73:22 the whole image moves up and down within the frame. These movements by the image are very distracting. At 76:35 the transfer appears to skip a couple of frames.
A single set of yellow English subtitles is provided on the disc and these are always clear and easy to read.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
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| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The dialogue is always clear and easy to understand.
The whole transfer suffers from obvious audio synchronization problems. A number of audio dropouts may be heard at 3:59, 18:08 and 42:35. Obvious static hiss may also be heard throughout the transfer and this is quite disruptive during the quiet scenes.
The original score by Nicola Piovanni is effective and works well with the on-screen action.
The surround and LFE channels are used minimally throughout the transfer and never make their presence felt at any time.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync |  |
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The animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This trailer is presented with a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.
This extended trailer is presented with a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.
This is a six-page collection of notes from director Bigas Luna about his inspirations for making this film.
Complete filmographies are provided for Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
This is a collection of cover images for Shallow Grave, Cyrano De Bergerac, My Beautiful Launderette and Cinema Paradiso.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The UK Region 2 Tartan version of this disc misses out on;
The Korean Region 3 Cinexus version of this disc misses out on;
The Spanish Region 2 Manga version of this disc misses out on;
This disc does not appear to be currently available in Region 1. Unfortunately, I have been able to find little detail regarding the quality of the transfers for either the R3 or R2 Spanish releases. As the R3 version is an anamorphic transfer this would be my version of choice despite being cropped from the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Luckily, the edges of the frame are used only minimally so the required cropping should not significantly affect the shot composition. The R2 Spanish version reportedly has a reasonable quality transfer so would also be worth considering. The R2 UK release of this disc reportedly has an 'abominable transfer' and even the R4 version is a significant improvement.
Jamón Jamón is an instantly forgettable film that fails to ever really engage the viewer and could only be recommended for fans of Penelope Cruz.
The video transfer displays numerous artefacts and the lack of 16x9 enhancement is disappointing.
The constant audio sync problems, background hiss and numerous dropouts relegate the audio transfer to functional at best.
The small collection of extras provides little detail but is still welcome.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
| Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
| Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |