Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso – In the Adriatic sea between the World Wars sea plane pilots rules the skies. The stubborn but talented pilot Porco, cursed to look like a pig, is paid to defend his employer’s shipments from pirate attack. But when the pirates gang together and hire ace American pilot, Curtis, he is caught unawares and shot down. With Curtis trying to woo Gina (who has long harboured feelings for Porco) and with the Italian Air Force trying to hunt down Porco as a deserter, he must sneak into Milan to have his plane fixed up. Will the young and enthusiastic Fio helps him get back in the sky in time to escape his captors and defeat Curtis before it is too late?

Porco Rosso (1992) – Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Rating: PG

Running Length: 94 mins

Starring: (English Language Dub) Michael Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Susan Egan

Genre: Action/Adventure, Animated, Drama

REVIEW: PORCO ROSSO

In the many wonderful works of legendary Japanese animation master, Hayao Miyazaki, ‘Porco Rosso’ shines as somewhat of an under-appreciated (in the west) gem that mixes the director’s love of child-friendly adventure with an unusually simple story. Also unusually for Miyazaki the movie is set in a definite place and time. During the 1930s in the Adriatic seas (with a gorgeously French / Mediterranean score) sea plane pirates raid tourists and supply chains. It takes hired guns to stop them, and ex-Italian fighter pilot Porco is considered the best. But there’s only one thing, he suffers under a curse that has made him look like a pig!

In reality, the ‘pig’ element is of little interest to the story. We never find out how Porco (voiced expertly by Keaton) was cursed nor what he did to get cursed, and he shows no interest in trying to break the curse. Instead the ‘piggish-ness’ is more a reflection of his character. Cast in the ‘Errol Flynn’ style of gruff swashbuckler, Porco smokes, drinks, has little time for social nicety, and just focuses on getting paid for his work. But the pirates band together and hire American Ace, Curtis, to shoot him down. So after plenty of dogfight flying in the first Act, our second Act is Porco shipping in secret his damaged plane to get fixed up in Milan, before flying back to defeat the ‘fall-in-love-in-a-blink’ Curtis.

Porco is a pig in more ways than one, as the notoriously female character driven Miyazaki uses the opportunity to paint his male protagonist as riddled with sexism, only for it to be burst. He derides the idea of women fixing his plane, but the young, upbeat and perky Fio expertly gets on with the job anyway. The last Act is a fun-filled affair with dogfights, punch-ups, and comedy pirates (who are never really a threatening presence, less so when awed by Fio shouting at them, “Where’s your honour?!”).

Most Miyazaki films are high fantasy, but Porco Rosso is instead a simple and fun tale of adventure and a bygone age. And just when you think that it’s all light-hearted, the movie throws in a heartbreakingly emotive and dreamlike scene about the fate of pilots who are shot down in battle. “All middle-aged men are pigs,” Porco tells Fio, even as she brings out the best in him. And as usual the anti-war message is strong, with a weary Porco saying, “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist.” Porco Rosso is a fun for the whole family affair and deserves just as a high a place in your collection as Miyazaki’s better known works (see My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, and Ponyo for more).

CONTENT: IS ‘PORCO ROSSO’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with some dangerous looking pirates kidnapping a large group of young schoolgirls. However the pirates turn out to be friendly and the girls are happy and excited to be kidnapped! The girls take over the plane and the pirates are a little annoyed by their antics but take everything in good humour.

There are numerous bar scenes where characters are seen to consume alcohol. Porco regularly drinks strong spirits and smokes.

Gina owns the bar and is clearly happy with her independence, however she has a level of melancholy to her demeanour. She has had three husbands who have all died and she tells a friend of her current husband, ‘They found his remains’.

The pirates are about to attack a ship and one of them is a bit concerned about how big it is, another character mocks his fear by saying ‘Don’t be such a sissy!’

The scene where Curtis attacks Porco is quite exciting and when Porco’s plane is shot up, it seems as though he could easily have been killed or badly hurt. Curtis briefly searches for Porco’s wreckage but is unable to find it, however we already know that Porco is fine and has hidden his plane from Curtis’ view.

Porco initially refuses to allow an old friend to fix up his plane because his main mechanic is a young woman (his granddaughter, Fio). Fio accepts Porco’s attitude and says ‘I can’t help being a woman’ and later, ‘Thank you for trusting a woman’. Porco tells her ‘Don’t stay up all night, it’s bad for your complexion’.

A character jumps off a cliff, somersaults and lands perfectly.#

A male character asks a female character to marry him when they have only just met because she’s ‘beautiful’. She agrees but has a condition that he has to meet. Later, he tells her ‘According to my sweet mama, it isn’t the love that counts’

Fio undresses to her underwear in order to go for a swim. Porco quickly turns away, embarrassed.

Porco remembers a dogfight he was in which involved ‘friends and enemies’. Numerous planes explode into flames or are shot down. He sees many of the planes flying past him but no-one answers when he calls out to them, including his friend. All of these planes fly upwards and he sees a stream of thousands of planes all silently heading in the same direction and poignantly realises that this is the pilot’s heaven/afterlife.

The finale of the movie sees Porco and Curtis in another dogfight, a large crowd has gathered to watch and, when the planes are firing close to them, one shouts ‘Don’t kill us, kill each other!’

When the pair get out of their planes, the fight continues and Curtis shoots a gun at Porco. They end up having a punch up where many heavy blows are exchanged. Both end up with cuts, lumps and bruises on their faces.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘PORCO ROSSO’ FOR KIDS?

There is very little threat in this light-hearted delight from Studio Ghibli. However, the middle of the movie where Porco gets his plane fixed up is a little slow and the fun comes from great dialogue rather than action. There is quite a bit of casually sexist remarks but these are usually punctured by capable woman and the men are shown up. In all, this is a fun and funny movie with plenty of action and tons of charm that should entertain everyone. Due to some minor bad language and subtext of sexism we would recommend this movie as suitable for all ages, but perhaps parental guidance for children under 6 to help explain certain parts.

• Violence: 2/5 (a big punch up at the end with bruises, cuts, and minor blood)
• Emotional Distress: 1/5 (the flashback scene with fate of the shot down pilots is highly emotive, although more likely to affect adults than children)
• Fear Factor: 0/5
• Sexual Content: 1/5 (some minor innuendo)
• Bad Language: 1/5 (infrequent mild cursing. Some insults like ‘jerk’, ‘stupid’, and ‘moron’)
• Dialogue: 1/5 (a character playfully insults some old ladies by saying ‘the three old hags showed up!’ and ‘Are you girls really still alive?’ The women take this in good humour. Porco tells Fio that the plane’s steering is ‘crazy, just like you’)
• Other Notes: Deals with themes of bounty hunters, piracy, anti-war, sexism, the fates of pilots, unrequited love, resistance to fascism, shallow behaviour, arrogance about being the best, defending a moral code, and living free of outside influence.

Words by Michael Record and Laura Record

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