Porco Rosso

DISCLAIMER: I did not see this movie in its original language(Japanese), but in a dubbed version(Italian). I may have missed some nuances.

I had never seen a movie by Miyazaki (or by Studio Ghibli) before Porco Rosso. I can safely say that Mr. Miyazaki has gained a fan. This movie really captured me.

It's got a particular mix of drama and humor. On one hand you have Porco, a human turned pig, outcast from society; on the other you have the silliness of the pirates and the general comedy, almost like it is a kids movie.

The visuals are stunning. The animation is smooth and absolutely a pleasure to the eye. But the flight sequences are something else. So detailed, so realistic, with clouds that look straight out of a painting. One of my first thought was: "Someone on the team that has made this must really love planes". Sure enough, a quick google search showed that Miyazaki himself is a big aviation fan. It shows, and it's beautiful.

Character-wise, the movie really only concentrates on Porco; the side characters are not well explored. That is not to say they fill like empty husks; their story is just barely touched upon,but enough to understand them.
The main character, though, I found really interesting. Porco Rosso (or Marco Pagot, before he became a pig) is an interesting guy. He seems to be the only real one to care about his own appearance. But he is not bitter about it; on the contrary, the movie showcases his caring side.


The universe in which this movie takes place is the icing on the cake, at least for me. It takes place between the two World War, but in Porco Rosso seaplanes dominate the sky. It's such an interesting idea. The seaplane is the maximum freedom a man can think of, combining boats and planes together. Not gonna lie, it made me hope for a seaplane comeback in our world.


In short, it's an interesting movie that can be funny to a kid and make an adult reflect, all in the same 90 minutes. Plus an imaginative universe, animated to perfection. What more do you want?


9/10

I gave this one a pass when checking out a lot of Miyazaki's films last year and... I really shouldn't have. It hits the comedic notes you'd expect for a film about a porcine aviator that bounty hunts seaplane pirates in the Adriatic during the 1920s, but there are surprising depths as well. The hidden romance and longing between Porco/Marco and Gina is registered and handled skillfully, and Marco's story about a fateful dogfight during WWI uses a visual that sums up all our fears, longing, and questions about mortality (a strong enough visual that Miyazaki returned to it again in The Boy and The Heron). The combination of those two along with the other usual Miyazaki strong points (visuals, flight, and music especially) make for a film that I'll return to frequently.

Sub or dub? Sub for me, though there are high points to the dub. Moriyama just inhabits the role and exudes Porco's world-weary veteran that still manages to care, and the rest of the Japanese cast and script work well.

I like Cary Elwes, but his "Texan" accent leaves a lot to be desired, and his "yeehaws!" were about as enthusiastic as Anakin Skywalker's "Yippee!" in Episode 1. Brad Garrett is Brad Garrett, but he's actually a great fit for the buffoonish pirate boss. David Ogden Stiers gets the reward for inhabiting his role the most in the dub: I wouldn't have known it was him if I didn't have the cast list available!

==First viewing; original Japanese==
>This is going to partly be a _Laputa_/_Porco Rosso_ comparison

This was by no means my first Ghibli, (or Miyazaki) film, and I've seen them at different times in my development as a person, in different stages of life. I—not ten minutes ago—just finished watching _Laputa_ , after having a false start on it years ago, and _Laputa_ felt—aside from being child hero-centered pupal romance—like a rougher first attempt at the same type of film, while being an entirely different kind of story (besides both being obsessed with romanticizing air pirates).

If I had seen _Laputa_ as a young boy, then I might have had some nostalgia for it that would have tinted my view in its favor, but I feel the story came out kind of unclear, like my first watch of _Nausicaä_. _Porco Rosso_, however, doesn't seem to have any ambiguity in its plot or message, or—important to how one subjectively experiences it—how it presents its _Action_ and bombast, or emotional moments of pathos.

It excels at the action in ways that others don't, both in its economy of movement (action in the general sense; lack of "shoe leather"), which is something that animation must have a much more conscious awareness of than live action, by virtue of the effort required to create any scene or motion, as well as the _ACTION_—which it excels at. The escape scene out of the shop and down the canal was easily one of the most engagingly exciting, and perfectly scored action/escape/chase scenes in any film I've seen. Absolutely perfect use of piano and string section. The entire score is perfectly suited to the setting and era, as well as matching the structure and tone of the film, something that _Laputa_ falls short regarding, thanks to its dated electronic score (through it had a banger main theme).

I also found both Fio and Porco's characters and voice actors to be top notch leads—well realized and vibrant. I haven't watched it in English, but I did notice that Jean Reno did Porco in the English dub, and that seems like a great match for Moriyama's performance, but Japan's VO industry, talent, and production/direction standard is both second to none (maybe Poland?), and it's the original language, and I understand just enough Japanese to tell where certain things were excessively localized instead of being accurate translations, so there's really no better way to watch; the expressions hold quite long enough, and are exaggerated enough that there's no need to look at their faces every second unless you're an extremely slow reader—for this film at least.

The message and tone are handled perfectly for me. Porco's a tragic, lone heroic-stoic both trying to live his best life as a daredevil relic of a dying era—a romantic character and a male fantasy of some, even in its tragedy—while also doing right by the community living under fascist wartime oppression. I think I've heard it before, but I definitely feel like Porco is the closest to being a reflection of Miyazaki himself.

And then there's the young upstart near-prodigy, Fio: charming, talented, intelligent, idealistic, and full of hope and gumption. The film was already highly entertaining and exciting, but once the 'Fio of the Women's Workshop' and the village of background characters helmed by Grandpa Piccolo enter the story, it's just delightful.

Miyazaki may not have liked it since he feels it was a mistake not making a children's film, but I think it may be his best structured film, and it's now one of my all time favorite films.

Porco Rosso is Miyazaki striking perfect balance between childish joy and jaded adult stoicism. A pig piloting a bright red plane in the summers of Italy captures the magic of Ghibli while also drawing a dark portrait of a generation stripped of its soul by the war.

A largely overlooked entry in the Hayao Miyazaki catalog, about a wartime fighter pilot (turned bounty hunter) who's been cursed with the face and body of a pig. I'd skipped this one for years because the director deemed it "foolish" and, to be honest, it just didn't look all that interesting. You'd think I would know better.

As with all prime Studio Ghibli entries, it brims and bustles with life, gladly bearing a joyful appreciation for the small things and an admiration for those who seek adventure. Air force captains, sky pirates, lounge owners, engineers... each pursue excitement in their own characteristic ways, which often overlap unexpectedly. Rosso himself is a tough nut to crack, only vaguely alluding to the curse that transformed his appearance and maintaining an emotional distance for much of the story. In some ways, that's refreshing - one might expect the search for a cure to dominate the plot, when that's far from the case - but it also makes him a tricky, and often underwhelming, lead character. His unwanted, self-appointed sidekick, a spunky young designer named Fio, is much more in the mold of the classic Ghibli protagonist.

Miyazaki and company also take special care to hammer out unique identities for each airship in the story, though these do generally take a back seat to their colorful pilots. The director's lifelong ties to avionics (his father was an aeronautical engineer) and his deep-rooted understanding of their natural, graceful motion are almost as clearly evident here as they would be twenty years later, in the more personal The Wind Rises.

Vibrant and energetic, stimulating and surprising, this has everything one might expect from the famed Japanese animation house. Perhaps a half-step below their very best, largely due to the reticent lead and an abrupt climax, but still an excellent selection for all ages to share and enjoy.

Another Ghibli ticked off my list, and man, I can't help but be sad I waited so long to see this one. What an incredible romp of a film this is! Really enjoyed it. Anywhere the film starts to lack, the world building kicks in and just fills you with wonder. I couldn't help but be enamored the entire time. Excellent, excellent movie.

the little details in miyazaki movies (with the great animation of Ghibli studios) are everything

Another great movie Miyazaki, with a great story and characters

Visually stunning like most fo studio ghibili films. I question whether Michael Keatons voice acting is a little cold, but otherwise a simple story thats easy to watch.

The adventures of an aviator pig.