Jamón Jamón (Jamón, jamón)

Directed by Bigas Luna, the 1992 Spanish-Italian romantic tragicomedy Jamón, jamón is also known as Penélope Cruz's first major film role. It follows Silvia, a young factory worker who becomes pregnant by Jose Luis, heir to a small but powerful underwear company; his mother, determined to end the relationship, hires a handsome man to seduce Silvia away from her son. Shot in the barren Monegros landscape of Aragon, the film was produced by Lolafilms, Ovídeo TV and Sogepaq.

Starring Javier Bardem, Jordi Mollà, Stefania Sandrelli, Anna Galiena and Juan Diego alongside Cruz, the film builds an allegory of Spain through wordplay, contrasting erotic desire with food and old with new. As the first entry in Bigas Luna's so-called Iberian Trilogy, it earned the director the Silver Lion at the 1992 Venice Film Festival.