Porco Rosso
Movie
Porco Rosso may be the most personal of Miyazaki's movies, but it may also be the most enjoyable. It's is a pleasure to watch, from the opening sequence in which aviator Marco, the "Crimson Pig," rescues a gaggle of giddy schoolgirls from air pirates (and pirates from schoolgirls) to the final showdown with a hotshot American pilot. Marco really is a pig, though it's his airplane that's red. The story is straightforward: air pirates operating in the Adriatic before WWII, frustrated by Porco Rosso, hire an American ace to shoot him down. Engine troubles bring Marco down in their first dogfight. He has his plane rebuilt in Milan, returns to his island hideout with the engineer daughter of the airplane builder and faces the American pilot again in a high-stakes duel. Although it's a simple story, it's not a dull one. The characters are all engaging, and the tone varies smoothly from humorous to dramatic to elegaic to farcical.
And there's lots and lots of flying. I can't think of any other contemporary artist who is as obsessed with flight as Miyazaki, except maybe for photographer Paul Bowen. Although there's nothing really objectionable about Porco Rosso, it's probably better suited for older audiences. It's the Miyazaki movie my father is most likely to enjoy.
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Text copyright © 2005 by Don McClane