Film Synopsis
Twenty years
have passed since the end of the First World War and the Adriatic Sea has seen
an increase in airborne pirates. To make ends meet, a veteran Italian fighter ace has been spreading fear in the minds of any would be marauder. His name is
Marco Pagot (voiced by Shuichiro Moriyama) and a strange curse has tuned him into an anthropomorphic pig. Thus he is better known as the one and only Porco
Rosso.
The the pirate gangs have become feed up with Porco’s constant interference.
Since none of their own can even dream of facing him, they contract the highly skilled American pilot, Donald Curtis (voiced by Akio Otsuka), to challenge the legendary airman.
On a trip to repair his plane, Porco runs into Curtis. Due to mechanical problems, Porco isn’t able to fly at his full ability and is easily
brought down. He manages to lose Curtis and makes it to an old friend’s
repair shop.
There Porco meets his friend's granddaughter, Fio (voiced by Akemi Okamura), and is a little apprehensive to have someone so young, and female, fix his plane.
Fio doesn't have any of that and takes up the challenge and easily proves her skills as a
master mechanic.
The two
become partners and Porco returns to settle the score with Curtis.Film Positives
As a Miyazaki film, Porco Rosso stands out since it doesn’t use magical
fantasy. Especially when you compare it to the likes of Laputa or Totoro. Aside
from the whole human turning into a pig thing, the events of the movie could have,
in theory, taken place.
Be that as
it may, it doesn’t take away from how fun the film is. The more down to Earth story and settings are what make it stand out.
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| Porco |
The Characters
I'm only going to focus on the three I mentioned in the
synopsis; Curtis, Fio, and Porco.
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| Fio |
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| Curtis |
Fio is yet another welcomed entry in the growing line of outstanding
female Ghibli characters. She’s no Nausicaä or Sheeta, but she’s definitely no damsel
or side kick. This is a person who has no qualms about telling someone to piss
off if necessary. Fio's straight to the point and honest attitude allows her to earn the respect from many different people even when those people may have different goals and
objectives in mind. But she’s also only a teenager and plays
the role accordingly. 
Fio is
extremely impulsive and doesn’t always grasp the full gravity of a situation. There are many things she has left to learn and is aware of her lack of
experience. This doesn’t stop or scare her because she also knows one can't gain experience by sitting on the sidelines. That being said, she is kind of
the sole reason why the stakes of the final showdown sky rocketed.
Finally
there’s Porco. He already hits at a personal preference of mine being that he's a character who's the best at what he does. That in itself is not worth me
talking about. What I really liked was his experience.
Whereas Fio hasn’t seen or done many things, Porco has been through a lot. Turning into a pig not being one of them, this guy has seen things; not all of them happy. He's a veteran of the brutality that was World War I. It’s where he perfected his skills and developed his cynical attitude. Porco has spent many years reflecting. It’s closed him off, but he’s not a locked box; people can break through.
Finally
there’s Porco. He already hits at a personal preference of mine being that he's a character who's the best at what he does. That in itself is not worth me
talking about. What I really liked was his experience.Whereas Fio hasn’t seen or done many things, Porco has been through a lot. Turning into a pig not being one of them, this guy has seen things; not all of them happy. He's a veteran of the brutality that was World War I. It’s where he perfected his skills and developed his cynical attitude. Porco has spent many years reflecting. It’s closed him off, but he’s not a locked box; people can break through.
The Ascension Scene
This is my absolute favorite moment in
the movie. In terms of visuals, music, storytelling, character development, it's perfect. One night Fio tries to get to know Porco a little
better. With a little playful arm twisting, Porco reveals a particularly
sad memory from the war.
His squad was out on a mission when they came across a pack of enemy
fighters. The battle was intense and both sides took heavy casualties; one them
being Porco’s best friend. Time goes into a standstill and Porco’s mind can no
longer fully register exactly what's going on.
Without
realizing it, Porco drifted up over the clouds. Before
his eyes is a pristine field of white. High above, there was a stream of what looked like glimmering diamonds stretching far beyond
what the eye can see. The sight was beautiful. Then from all around Porco ,the planes which were shot down, including his friends’, rose up
to join the shimmering trail. It’s here we see it’s completely made up of fallen pilots from every country involved in the war.
Porco returns as the only survivor of the encounter.
Film Negatives
Question,
how come Porco’s a pig? I’m legitimately curious.
I understand he got turned into a one because of a curse. The issue I have is the fact that it has no bearing on the film or story what so ever.
It can be taken out and nothing would change. It doesn’t cause any
sort of inconvenience and everyone's pretty okay with it.
So if it's not adding anything to the story, why not just
make him human? Hell at the right angle he looks human anyway, so why not
have it so?
Do I care he's a pig; not in the slightest. I simply found it odd that this very
big, but very unneeded detail was here at all.
The Comedy's a Little Out of Place
This is a solid, light hearted, and funny film. I would even
go so far as to say this is Ghibli’s first true comedy. Totoro and Kiki had their comedic moments, but telling jokes and making you laugh were not the primary purposes.
Yet, I
can’t help but feel that Porco Rosso isn't as engaging as it probably should be.
This is
entirely because of where and when the story takes place. Like I said, an event like this happening in history isn’t entirely far fetched. The setting isn’t some nameless
location from some distant timeline; it’s the Adriatic Sea off the coast of the former Yugoslavia during
the late 1930s. This was a place feeling the effects of the Depression
and was during a time of great political turmoil. The movie even address this when Porco
comments he would rather be a pig than a fascist.
Porco Rosso’s comedy is affected because
of what’s about to happen. In a year’s time, the brutality and cruelty
of the Second World War would commence.
It seems this was a deliberate decision made by the filmmakers because during
production conflicts in this region broke out. While admirable to take this into consideration and not make light of the current events of 1992, it does
make the periodic moments of silliness a bit out of place.
Final Thoughts
Compared to
the movies we have seen thus far this month, this one is a tad overshadowed. On
its own though, Porco Rosso is a
fantastic film.
It’s a lot
fun, with fantastic characters and plenty of moments of brilliant storytelling.
This is a more human tale that doesn’t use the whimsy of fantasy. However, you’re
going to get the same exactly level of quality you would expect from a Miyazaki film and Porco Rosso is something that's worth a look.
Ghibli Month
will continue tomorrow with the 1993 made for TV movie Ocean Waves.
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