Porco Rosso
The adventures of a 1930's bush pilot who just happens to look like a humanoid pig. Read more
| Director | Hayao Miyazaki |
|---|---|
| Run time | 93 mins |
| Genres | Drama |
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Most helpful member's review
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19 out of 19 people found this review helpful
The pig flies tonight!
If you weren't already aware that Miyazaki named his production company Studio Ghibli after a vintage Italian light aircraft you will be after you watch this. It's devoted to flight. It's an absolute love letter to little, old fashioned aeroplanes zipping around the Adriatic getting into all kinds of scrimps and scrapes and it also happens to be one of Miyazaki's very finest movies. And who cares why Porco was turned into a pig? It's a bally metaphor you chaps. Sort yer heads out. Porco is an existential hero, dont'cha know? He is an expression of his own being, trying to live authentically in a time not of his choosing. Yeah, man. And while it treats of the kind of retro-futurist, neo-mythical past we saw done in incredible style more recently in Steamboy, the film manages to throw in references to Italy's fascist period and to shallow American imperialism that give it a real-world kick I'm unused to in Miyazaki. Also, for me, many of his films are either too long, or strike too many false notes to be perfectly satisfying, but here everything is just about perfect. Even the English dubbing is spot on, and coming from a confirmed world cinema snob, that is high praise indeed. Except that they can't pronounce Milan properly, but that's a very minor gripe. This is pure Miyazaki magic, full of the kind of depth and ambiguity so many of his contemporaries lack, but also so irresistably simple and pure you'll wonder why all movies aren't like this. It's absolutely great art of the highest possible kind, and a charming adventure and a poignant love story - do I allow myself to recommend it to children of all ages? Phooey. That would be going a bit too far. It is wonderful though. It would be hard to imagine a human being alive who could not thoroughly enjoy this film. Magical.
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Most recent members' review
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9 out of 9 people found this review helpful
World War I animation where pigs really do fly
Porco Rosso (The Crimson Pig) is a wistful, romantic story set just after the first world war. Porco, a hotshot biplane pilot living near Milan, is in love with the beautiful Gina and a bitter rival of an American pilot. He strikes up a friendship with the enterprising young airplane designer Fio (a girl) as they struggle to keep Porco's old scrapheap of a plane flying. Oh yes... and Porco is a pig (for no apparent reason, it's symbolic, I think). The aerial scenes are SUPERB and reason enough to rent this movie. I really fell in love with this film when I saw it in the cinema (lucky me) - the attention to detail, the strong characters, the emotional journeys, but mostly just the amazing animation. It was the first Miyazaki I saw and what a corker!
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