Porco Rosso (1992)

Porco Rosso (1992), Directed by Hayao Miyazaki 3.5 stars

Porco Rosso aka The Crimson Pig aka the once great aviator and dogfighter Marco (at least in the Disney-dubbed English version) has pretty much given up on the world.  The ace pilot has literally devolved into a pig, ostensibly due to some sort of curse to which vague reference is made.  When he is not doing mercenary battle with sky pirates, he gorges himself, smokes and drinks incessantly.  It lies to the ladies in his life to ultimately reawaken the spirited idealism of his youth.  Like Rick in “Casablanca,” Porco is fortunate to have encountered a woman (two in fact) able to slowly chip away at the bitterness that takes away the pain and nudge him to a hero’s redemptive state.  The first is Gina, a chanteuse and a close friend of Porco from long before he lapsed into his peculiar, porcine state.  The other is Fio, a young, energetic, airplane engineer who after redesigning and helping to repair his plane, accompanies him on his quest.

It’s often acknowledged that Hayao Miyazaki, the director and writer, is at his very best when animating objects in flight, and this film is filled with extended sequences during which planes soar through the skies in hot pursuit, in pitched battle, or simply for a pilot’s sheer thrill of flying.  One particularly memorable aerial sequence occurs as Porco recounts a vision he had during a particularly bloody dogfight during the Great War.  A glimmering pattern of what at first appear to be specs of dust appears high above him in the distance.  Suddenly, planes emerge from the clouds below, and as they slowly continue their ascent, they themselves eventually merge with the speckled band: a ghostly gathering of pilots and planes formed from the extensive casualties of air warfare.  It is an unanticipated, extremely powerful emotional moment in an otherwise fairly light-hearted romp.  The moving images work their magic beautifully, providing us our one and only glimpse into the soul of the hero.

This film is not a well-known or particularly highly-regarded product of Studio Ghibli, Japan’s premier animation house.  However, upon seeing it on the big screen recently, my second viewing in the space of about a year, I enjoyed the film quite a  lot—a lot more, in fact, than I had when I originally watched it on DVD.  Whether my recent, more positive reaction was as a result of a shared viewing experience, the size of the screen, the quality of the dubbing, the pristine print, or likely some combination of all these elements, I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter much.  The intermixing of adventure, humor, and, on occasion, deep pathos worked for me, and on a big screen, this combination worked together even better.  Now as to the kid in the seat behind me who kept kicking my chair …