repels his advances several times, Raúl becomes genuinely attracted to her and begins trying to win her affection in earnest. Meanwhile, Conchita becomes sexually obsessed with Raúl herself and the two begin an affair. When José Luis repeatedly refuses to stand up to his parents, Silvia herself begins an affair with Raúl, while José Luis seeks solace with Carmen, revealed to have been his lover before he began dating Silvia. Amidst the various affairs, Silvia begins having surrealistic dreams containing images of shepherds guiding their flocks through the desert, pigs, and images of herself kneeling nude in the desert cradling ham bones. Learning of Silvia's betrayal, José Luis forces himself upon Silvia to avenge himself against Raúl. Desperate to keep Raúl, Conchita seduces him at the isolated ham warehouse where he works. José Luis goes to Carmen and tells her that his relationship with Silvia is over, but she refuses to rekindle their affair; a devastated José Luis goes in search of Raúl. Meanwhile, Silvia, looking for José Luis, arrives at his home and encounters a departing Manuel, who makes advances on Silvia. Initially hesitant, she returns his advances. José Luis tracks Raúl down to the ham warehouse and catches him with Conchita. The two men fight using ham legs as blunt weapons, ending with José Luis injuring Raúl and Raúl bludgeoning José Luis to death. Carmen, Silvia, and Manuel arrive and Silvia returns her soda can tab ring to José Luis's body before returning to Manuel; a weeping Carmen cradles José Luis's body while Conchita comforts Raúl. A shepherd arrives with his flock of sheep, recreating a tableau from Silvia's dreams. Cast Production The film is a Lola Films production. It has the Monegros desert as backdrop. Shooting locations included Peñalba, Fraga, Monegrillo and La Almolda. Footage was shot near the Osborne bull (and the adjoining gas station) in Peñalba, a football pitch in Monegrillo, and a roadhouse near Candasnos. Much of the dialogue and imagery in the film are composed of word play and visual puns. For example, in Spanish, jamón means "ham;" not only do two characters comment that Silvia's breasts taste like ham, but the phonetically similar jamona, which Raul calls Silvia, is Spanish slang for an unmarried woman. Release The film premiered in Spain on 4 September 1992. It later screened at the 49th Venice International Film Festival. Reception Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a