Porco Rosso

7 reviews - 32.0 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (4.6)

Director - Hayao Miyazaki
Music - Joe Hisaishi

7. h8er13

Not my favorite Miyazaki film, but nonetheless, an excellent movie. Like all of his works, Miyazaki creates a colorful and fantastic world. This world is filled with equally colorful and enjoyable characters, which ultimately leads to a wonderful anime/movie experience open to all ages.

What I truly enjoy of Miyazaki works are his character actions and relations. Every action is significant in that it either adds something to the plot or provides a fuller understanding of each character. Not a single scene is repetitive or wasted. Anyway, I have yet to see Miyazaki commit any major mistakes, and I hope he never does.

6. Global Frequency

Porco Rosso is by far my favorite film by Hayao Miyazaki. It's underrated and not often seen, but I've rarely had this much fun watching a film. It isn't didactic and angry like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It never becomes as aimless and boring as Laputa: Castle in the Sky or the final half-hour of Spirited Away. It's simply fun, featuring fluid but subdued animation and one of the most entertaining protagonists I've ever seen. Porco Rosso is a Red Baron-style aviator in the skies over the Adriatic Sea circa 1930. He also happens to be a pig - literally. Not much issue is made of this peculiar trait; most characters seem to accept it and move on. The film is set against a background of war and financial depression, but, oddly enough, seems to me Miyazaki's lightest and most humorous work to date. Porco Rosso (who looks quite a lot like David Suchet) dodges the Italian police and spars with American aviator/movie star "Mister Curtis," leading to a great climactic dogfight.

Watching Porco Rosso is like watching an animated Casablanca or something of that sort. It's a good 1940's-style adventure movie with strong, appealing characters, great music, and a lot of heart. Miyazaki's low-key magnum opus belongs on any anime fan's top ten list.

5. Marshal of Manga

It's fascist Italy during the Great Depression. Air pirates and bounty hunters rule the sky, for lack of action and money after World War I. If there's anyone who can execute with success a movie where pigs can fly, it's in the hands of Hayao Miyazaki and his team at Ghibli.

Marco was an aerial ace who abandoned the air force to seek his fortunes elsewhere, but the lure and romanticism of the sea and the sky keeps him in his seaplane, which he harbours on his very own island. For Marco wears the curse of being a pig, and seclusion from the human world and solace in the skies is what suits him best… as he says, a pig's not special unless it can fly.

We follow Marco as he flies against pirates who want to roast him for pork, fights an egotistic American who wants to claim his title as Lord of the Adriatic Sea, while running away from the secret police whose motto is clearly: 'if he doesn't work for us, he's against us', and perhaps trying to escape from the bonds of love he knows he cannot fulfill?

It's bittersweet that Marco may feel alienated from other humans due to his curse, but at the same time, his detachment from the human race and lack of attachments may give him the freedom to glide through the skies at will… but how would people who love Marco regardless of his curse feel about his spirit which, like the wind that blows Marco's plane onwards, can never be contained?

There is a short but touching scene where war is shown to be something that does not discriminate - it takes the life of any man regardless of the quality of his heart or the country of his loyalty. This is shown very subtly, through a story within a story, and it is beautiful moments like these that make Porco Rosso a film to cherish.

The major fight at the end is one of the greatest (and most comedic) cinematic sequences, live or animated.

The soothing string music (which has left an indelible imprint on my mind) and the seriousness of the animation is well aligned with the content to give a heartfelt movie that has its precious moments of fun and hilarity.

Interesting things to note is the word 'Ghibli' engraved on the new engine Marco acquires, and if you look at the grandfather clock in Whisper of the Heart (another gem from Ghibli), you'll see 'Porco Rosso' engraved on the wood :)

Verdict: Beautiful, like Tchaikovsky's music, and tinged with an air of tragedy, like Tchaikovsky's life. This gets 5 neither because it was born at Ghibli nor because it was conceived from Mr Miyazaki's mind, but because it's brilliant in its own right.

4. Hybrid

Porco Rosso is one of Miyazaki's films that stars a strong male lead, and yet is another masterpiece. As this is a Miyazaki film, all of his signature's are featured in this film, as Miyazaki's love for airplanes can be easily seen as the planes that are featured in this movie and highly detailed, strong females leads are present with a good portion of the movie is dedicated to Fio, the multi-skilled airplane technician, to Gina the love interest of Porco Rosso and hotel owner. As this is a Miyazaki film, there are plenty of short "good moments" that he is famous for. The animation for this movie is on par with other Studio Ghibli works, and the music is top class, as Joe Hisaishi delivers other fanstastic musicial score. In short, this is a fun enjoyable film that comes highly recommended.

3. cron

From the mind of Miyazaki comes a story of pirates of the air off the Italian coast, post-"The Great War". The central character is the "Crimson Pig" who in fact is a pig aviator pirate that lives on a small island off the Italian coast. From the beginning the "Crimson Pig" displays a good heart, helping rescue people from the clutches of evil pirate gangs even though he is also a pirate in the eyes of the locals and the government. When a 1930's Hollywood male star type character shows up in the area with the intent to leave an impression and to create a legend of himself, he falls for an old love interest of the "Crimson Pig" named Gina. From here the story starts off the love triangle plot which results in a duel the "Crimson Pig" loses. Without going much more into the story the major character of the story Fio is introduced with a mechanical and design expertise during the rebuild of "Crimson Pig"'s plane. The animation is beautiful as per all Ghibli films with attention to the smallest detail in water, aircraft design and details (which are based upon the same era planes). The music is unique because of the use of the character Gina's role of a 1920-30's lounge singer, besides its typical epic soundtrack music. Overall its a great film to watch and I really enjoyed it.

2. Tempy

WW I Ace pilot and war hero Marco Pagot (named after an Italian animator and friend of Hayao Miyazaki) turned into a pig after being torn apart by war, love, and death. Now in Fascist Italy in the late 1920's he earns his keep as a bounty hunter by the name of Porco Rosso. Hayao Miyazaki has created another highly enjoyable tale showcasing his obsession for planes, pigs, and strong women. The story is light with some serious touches, but there's no direct obstacle to overcome, no world to save, no evil to defeat. Like My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso's strength comes from the rich world Miyazaki creates and the ensemble of fun characters, from Porco Rosso himself, to the American pilot Donald Curtis, feisty Fio Piccolo and her aircraft-building family, the bumbling air pirates, and the beautiful singer Gina. A very fun movie indeed.

1. Dreamer

Crimson Pig, a 'cute' pig and an ace pilot whose past is known to few. He is now working as a bounty hunter or something like that, beating the crap out of pirates for some amount of money. The animation quality of the show is quite good with light colors and the trademark Studio Ghibli's character design. The design of characters is somewhere between cuteness and realism with lots of familiar features and solid lines. Porco Rosso is a funny and lighthearted show despite its somewhat serious plot. My only complaints is that the story and the characters do not develop quite well.