| The male cast is first-rate, including Javier Bardem, Maribel Verdu and Maria de Medeiros. Though Bardem is terrific as the signature Bigas Luna macho anti-hero it is Benicio Del Toro's small role as a randy gardener that probably accounts for this movie finally being released here. Forms an unofficial trilogy with "Jamon, Jamon" and "La Teta y La Luna." All the women (Maria de Medeiros, Maribel Verdú, Elisa Tovati, Raquel Bianca) are sexy in the strong, earthy almost elemental way Luna conceives Spanish womanhood. Penelope Cruz's breasts steal the show. That may seem a crass comment, but it's one of those instances where a director tries to really capture something. Luna always has strong ideas about men's and women's bodies and in Cruz's big scene he sees to have taken pains show her breasts as the perfect realization of every textural association and fantastic imagining he has on the topic of breasts. "Directed by acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Jose Juan Bigas Luna, HUEVOS DE ORO (GOLDEN BALLS) stars Javier Bardem in his breakthrough role (for which he also received a Goya Award nomination). In this satire of Latin machismo and the excesses of the 1980s, Bardem plays Benito Gonzalez, who dreams of building a mighty skyscraper and thereby securing fame and wealth for himself. His main advantages are his uncontrollable self-assurance and skills as a lothario. He marries the daughter of a rich banker while keeping a mistress on the side, but his betrayal of both women begin to destroy his plans for the building as well as his chauvinist self-confidence. Bigas Luna brings his trademarks-an honest exploration of sexuality and surrealistic imagery-to this tale of male egotism and its undoing." English Dubbed. |
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