Golden Balls (1993)

A construction worker uses his charm and bravado in an attempt to attain enough finances to build his dream project.

Director:

Bigas Luna

Writers:

Cuca Canals, Bigas Luna

Stars:

Javier Bardem, Maria de Medeiros, Maribel Verdú

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Javier Bardem	...	Benito González
Maria de Medeiros	...	Marta (La mujer, 45 kilos)
Maribel Verdú	...	Claudia (La amante, 52 kilos)
Elisa Tovati	...	Rita (El primer amor, 47 kilos)
Raquel Bianca	...	Ana (La comehombres, ? kilos)
Alessandro Gassmann	...	El amigo de Melilla (as Alessandro Gassman)
Benicio Del Toro	...	El amigo de Miami (as Benisio Del Toro)
Francesco Maria Dominedò	...	El Mosca (as Francesco Mª Dominedo)
Albert Vidal	...	El suegro
Ángel de Andrés López	...	Gil - el de los garbanzos
Alicia Moro	...	La chica de Gil
Enric Cusí	...	El hombre de confianza
Francisco Casares	...	El productor (as Paco Casares)
María Martín	...	La mujer del productor
Thomas Lusht	...	El cachas americano

Storyline

Benito González works construction in Melilla and dreams big - of building the tallest building in Benidorm, a great phallic symbol of power, González Towers. Over several years, we see Benito's rise and fall, much like the construction of his tower. Through force of personality, he puts the financing together, taking advantage of women who love him - Claudia, a model who wants to be a star, and Marta, the US educated daughter of a banker whose loan Benito needs. Can his force of personality - his huevos de oro - compensate for shoddy building materials, no permits, and undercapitalization? Nature may have her own power and surprises in store for Benito.

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Plot Keywords:

cunnilingus | copulation | coitus | female full frontal nudity | hot | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Second part of Bigas Luna's "Iberian Trilogy" also including Jamón, jamón and La teta y la luna.

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Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Achilipú
Written by José Castellón (as J. Castellón) and Felipe Campuzano (as F. Campuzano)
(C) Ediciones Musicales Horus, S.A.
(C) 1970 Teddy Sound

User Reviews

A filmic essay on vulgarity? Or what?

With some films it is really hard to tell for whom they were made. Huevos de oro seems to aim at the well educated Spanish middle class. There must be many inside jokes in this movie which you will not understand if you are an outsider. This can be pretty annoying.

Symbols and references to art and popular culture abound, the movie alludes to the work of Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel and the Surrealists in general, a certain infatuation with bidet baths seems to point to Duchamp's ready mades. What's more, the main character has also a knack for karaoke tapes with songs of Julio Iglesias. But why all this is mixed together in a rather pretty but also gratuitous way simply eludes me. I can only guess that it all serves to highlight the vital, impetuous, boorish vulgarity of the main character who the director seems to admire and despise at the same time. How all the really pretty women run after him (the main character, I mean) is slightly disconcerting.

The movie has three parts. It starts in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Africa, where Benito, the main character, does his military service, apparently in the corps of engineers. Then it moves on to the resort town of Benidorm in Spanin where Benito just wants to build the highest skyscraper of the place and become a vulgarized Howard Roark. For the last part a defeated Benito moves to Miami, Florida, presumably in order to start a „new life". But the change of places is not really explained satisfactorily. It is also somehow irritating that there is no character development and that the movie descends into a soap opera modus without being convincingly ironic. It must be said that Javier Bardem acquits himself very well playing the young stud who grows limp and deflated.

I purchased this movie because I am interested in townscapes. And Benidorm is a kind of a special place, townscapewise. In this aspect Huevos de oro satisfied me only partially. In Jess Franco's She Killed In Ecstasy (1970) this specific location was used in a more rewarding way.

Details

Country:

Spain Italy France

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Golden Balls

Filming Locations:

Villajoyosa, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

ESP420,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antena 3 Televisión, Filmauro, Hugo Films S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1