ElMaruecan82
First of all, what a premise! Seriously, any screenwriter could have written the strangest and most compelling story about a man with a pig's head but Miyazaki turns him into a World War I veteran, an ace seaplane pilot and freelance bounty hunter... who "happens to be a pig". Not only that, but his head doesn't even make people turn theirs, while it's not the least noticeable trait and it inspires a few practical jokes here and there, "Porco Rosso" is no excuse for pig jokes, it's a legitimate story and another fine making from the master of animation in his favorite setting: sky (and water since the film deals with hydroplanes) and characters behaving in a realistic, touching and occasionally funny way."Porco Rosso" isn't even a character study, it's a lighthearted adventure movie with a fair share of action and romance, set in the Adriatic Sea circa 1929-1930 when Italy was soon to be undertaken by the fascist regime and many ex-pilots were looking for professional conversions, some in piracy, some in Hollywood, some in between. Marco (our titular Porco) is specialized in bounty hunting and is quite good at it, he makes enough money to enjoy agreeable moments of idleness with a good wine, a pack of cigarettes and a nice song, "bon vivant" like any Italian mano. So, when the film starts, he's inhabited with such an aura of coolness the mystery of his appearance is almost secondary. What's more everyone is accustomed to his face and he's such a fully developed character that his condition ceases to be a flaw, it even gives him a weird charm or edge over the other men, especially with the lovely Gina, a singer and restaurant owner.The relationship between Marco and Gina provides the first hints about Marco's past. After a successful mission, he goes to a restaurant and you can tell there's some history between them. Gina had just lost her third husband, a pilot and friend of Marco, and somewhat she seems to have very strong feelings toward him. Their dialogues resonate almost like something you would hear in a Humphrey Bogart movie, that's how cool Marco is, and mature by animation's standards. See, I made an experience, I closed my eyes a few seconds and I could swear I was listening to a real movie(not to mention that he's voiced by Jean Reno in the French version and I was gladly surprised by the fact that Miyazaki found it better than the original voice).So, Marco is a pig by face but perhaps the least cartoon-like animated character I ever saw, which reinforces the credibility of the movie and the relationships between Porco and Gina, and later, Fio, his mechanic's teenage granddaughter and engineer with a love for planes that echoes Miyazaki's own passion. Fio is the typical Miyazaki girl except that she's a supporting player, like Mononeke, Nausicaa, and Kiki, she embodies the power, courage and free-spirited nerve of girls and women who had to show that their spirit was bigger than their muscles to earn men's respect. Ever since I saw a big warrior being reduced to stunned silence in "Princess Mononoke" by one of the female villagers, I knew there was something 'different' in Miyazaki's approach to the female persuasion (no pun intended) and a similar scene happens when little Fio manages to talk the big pirates out of killing Marco in exchange of a deal. And when you look at the film's big picture, you realize that female characters steal the show. During the hostage scene, little girls are excited by being kidnapped by pirates and you almost feel sorry for the bad guys, Gina is enamored with Marco but not to the point of hiding her resentment, and it's old women who repair Marco's damaged plane. It's better than feminism because all these female protagonists don't try to act "like men". And why should they anyway? In "Porco Rosso", men are like children, players who're so busy making war they're incapable to act reasonably, if Marco can't see that Gina is in love with him, Curtis, the main antagonist is a buffoon who asks every pretty girl for marriage, and that goes for Fio too, and the pirates are never as dangerous as they seem and even the climactic fight turns into a big joke without making them look ridiculous. Maybe it's the one little problem with the film, it doesn't really involve you in situations where you feel one's life is threatened, Marco plays it cool and the bad guys aren't so bad. Maybe the central point of the film is his identity and how he can go back to normal, Fio even wonders if it works like fairy-tale. The question is so thrilling that Miyazaki for all his realistic approach, leave us wondering all through the film. Of course, the film isn't totally a fairy tale, although it has an enchanting quality about it, but it especially works as a love letter to aviation and Italian legends that inspired Miyazaki to name his studio after an an Italian engine.And there's the humanistic side, what the film says about war's futility from the perspective of a man whose curse was caused by that very futility, in an episode I won't spoil but that reflects the tragedy with the kind of poetry only Miyazaki can express. Women are entrapped in this world, forced to resort to nostalgia like Gina who keep singing "Le Temps Des Cerises" and Fio who almost jeopardizes her future by marrying someone she doesn't like, out of love for her pilot.Porco Rosso, if not the most 'iconic' Miyazaki film strikes for its simplicity, its matter-of-fact way and its lead character, by many aspects, it's a minor Miyazaki film, but what does 'minor' mean when the other movies are all classic masterpieces.
MissSimonetta
On the surface, Porco Rosso (1992) is a lushly animated adventure flick with a tinge of nostalgia for the pilots of the 1920s. Underneath the skin, its a film fraught with anxiety about war and fascism. In some ways, it is like Miyazaki's first feature, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), a seemingly frothy popcorn film that contains well-hidden sadness at the core; however, here that sadness is much more visible.This seems to be one of Miyazaki's lesser known films for whatever reason. Is it because the main character is a middle aged man disillusioned with life instead of a child or teenager? Is it the pre-WWII setting? Is it the lack of fantasy elements (outside of the protagonist having turned himself into a pig, that is)? I don't know, but it's a shame.
