Anime: Kurenai no Buta 1p686e

Review
Hayao Miyazaki's mind have taken us to explore from fantastic lands to the vivid imagination of children so far, some with straightforward tales of adventure and others giving us some subtle and deeper messages. Kurenai no Buta (Porco Rosso) is a different tale of the author so far, one not only mixing the fantastic worlds he creates with our reality, but also one with a whimsical theme filled with comical features, bizarre choices, and a western atmosphere.

This is the the tale of Marco (Porco), a dashing World War pilot mysteriously transformed into a pig through a curse. The new appearance haven't changed what he does though, and with his red airplane he makes his life in the post war as a famous bounty hunter, fleeing the fascist forces of Italy while hunting pirates. His classic romantic behavior and attitude, however, is about to change as he is shot down by an american pilot and must accept that a group of women rebuild his plane so he can have his revenge match.

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1. It's somewhat carefree
   Porco Rosso is a weird experience. It starts with a group of pirates with good heart kidnapping children in an amazingly funny scene. It goes on that rhythm throughout the show, with a comical flair spreading from the cast to everyone else. Funny pirates akin to Popeye's, cute carefree children laughing as they are kidnapped, old women having a blast while facing the fascist police, spectators gleefully running amok from gunfire, pig puns, and much more. Every seemingly dangerous scene is given a comical value due to the way the characters behave, much more than in previous Hayao's shows.
   
   Porco and Fio
   Porco is a pig, literally yes, but also somewhat in his behavior. He is that dashing gallant secret agent from the 70's, full of mystery, charming, and a sexist view of the world. He is like James Bond turned swine but with his best skills being piloting airplanes instead of spying. Anyway, his attitude is shown at various parts of the show, such as his classical romantic backstory with Gina, his reluctance in letting women work on his plane, Fio's grandpa always telling him to keep his hand off his granddaughter, and in his comments about what the women should be doing.
   
   Fio is his anathema. She is a young girl, ready to show her skills as an airplane engineer and capable of doing much more. Her presence and deeds go against what Porco thought she as capable because of her gender and age, and she slowly makes him change his view about her. In fact, Fio is much like the protagonists of previous Hayao's works, a girl ready to defy the system and prove her worthiness through skill and hard work. She ends up caring for the dashing pig as she helps him, giving us a glimpse of an innocent love that contrasts with what Porco have experienced in his life as a apparent serial romantic.
   
   And it's amazingly animated
   Porco Rosso is about airplane combats, firefights, and a pig fleeing the fascist police force, pirates, and everyone else. All of these are given life in one of Studio Ghibli's most amazing efforts in this department. The show age is hardly apparent, there's constant movement and the expressive power of the cast is what we already know from the studio's quality. There is, however, a somewhat lack of amazing scenery and the attention to the detail is some places may fall short from previous works.
   
   But in the end...
   Although it boasts amazing quality for a comedy action movie, Porco Rosso makes little to approach the themes with enough weight. It mentions how women are rebuilding the post war, it makes references to its horrors, it shows of fascists hunting rebels, it even glimpses how Porco was a valiant fighter who faced death during the war, yet it hardly ever make it the focus of the show. It had much more to tell yet it mostly set its sights to Porco's revenge against the american and the build up to that point, which happens as some comical show mediated by the happy pirates.
   

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Comments
Porco Rosso is a different kind of work within the portfolio of Hayao Miyazaki. It does have all the symbols and references to some serious issues, it portraits the powerful female lead, yet it widely lacks any emotional value. It is a light comedy with good action and so it may fall short to those expecting yet another deeper piece of work from Studio Ghibli.

This, however, in no way means it should be underestimated. Porco Rosso has some hilarious scenes, its action parts are marvelous, and it is a show that aged quite well. Even when compared to later shows such as Whisper of the Heart it is obvious this one receive a lot more attention to its animation, coloring, and overall quality.

Want some Ghibli comedy? Dig in.

Overview
Porco Rosso is a Frog Prince story taken to spectacularly romantic heights. The proverbial frog is in this case an ace pilot of a pig, Marco, who turns his back on fascist 1930's Italy to be a pirate chasing bounty hunter. The film explores how he came to be the pacifist he is through his pirate hunting adventures and two distinct love stories that he gets involved in. With love portrayed both as the innocent arrow of cupid, and also the evolution of a deep relationship over time, set in pre-WWII Italy, centered around a grandiose imagining of the exotic and heart pounding life style of a sea pilot, Porco Rosso is so romantic that some adventure-loving sheltered girl somewhere in the world is probably swooning and gushing over it this very instant.

Story & Characters
Like most Miyazaki movies, Porco Rosso doesn't follow the general plot structure of a Hollywood flick of this nature where the entirety of the plot is spent layering the conflict between hero and villain until it builds up to the boiling point that is the climax. The inevitability of the climactic confrontation is clear early on, but instead of spending the film hyping up the dramatic bang, we get a look into Marco's business as usual life as well as his relationships with a childhood friend, Gina, and a whelp of a mechanic, Fio. The final dogfight is the airshow spectacle it promises to be, but the real payoff comes with learning about Marco and his associates.

This story is far from a realistic portrayal of warfare and pirate hunting. Who knew that gruff and unkempt pirates would be full of maternal instincts when handling child hostages? In typical Miyazaki fashion, killing intent is absent in the violence, and malice is absent from criminals. It has all the adventurous notions of an Indiana Jones without even an ounce of villainy. Children can easily appreciate the visual beauty and the lofty, loosely historical fantasy world without any objections from their parents, while only teenagers and adults will be able to empathize with the understated but deep affection Marco shares with Gina. In contrast, Fio's love is more in line with the romance that Ghibli has produced in the past: it is beautiful and sweet, perhaps an emotion as wonderful as any, but upon reflection is no more than youthful infatuation. The romances provide nostalgic and heartfelt moments while the softie pirates and a gaudy american womanizer lighten up the drama.

Music
The music is a bit glaringly two faced, but fitting in an odd sense. You have circus music tracks that go with the antics of the goofier characters. The blaring tubas, trombones and cymbals feel perfectly in line with the farce that is babysitting pirates. Then there are the string centric orchestral pieces that capture well the melancholy bitter sweet of Marco's relationships. The film itself draws clear bounds between the comic and the romantic, and the wildly different tracks plays into it.

Animation
If the animation is judged solely on the loveliness of Miyazaki's imagined Italy, there would be nothing to criticize. The aesthetic is not as eye catching as his more recent works; the colors aren't gaudy or luscious, but its muted palette is in its own way captivating. Its his ideas themselves, from Gina's island villa, to Marco's deserted island paradise, to the quaint bar where Gina plays lounge singer nightly, captivating pirates and bounty hunters alike, that convey romance and beauty more than a color palette can. It positively makes you want to roll all around it as a tourist, but alas, such an Italy could only reside in one's imagination. Where the animation falters, and I use this word relative to other Miyazaki works, is in the plain human animations. In Totoro, Spirited Away or Kiki's Delivery Service, there are segments of life like animation that can stand alone and develop the humanity of the characters with no more than a line or 2 of dialogue, if any. Porco Rosso misses the final dimension, the humanity that can be found in say, either one of Chihiro's daring explorations of the outside edges of the bath house in Spirited Away. This quality is so rare in anime though that unless you are specifically expected Miyazaki's wow factor in this regard, you won't be missing it. The facial expressions still breathe a little bit of his usual visual life into the characters.

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Above all else, this film is a portrait of its characters. While it leaves a few questions unanswered, the characters are fleshed out enough to make reasonable assumptions about the more important ones. The alternative, a happily ever after ending would be too conclusive and abrupt to fit the complex relationships that were established. Unlike Kiki, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, Porco Rosso doesn't have a coming of age, or environmentalist message that can be gleaned and summed up in a single sentence. It's a beautiful story that's narrow in its focus on romantic ideas, but broad in the variety of emotions it can express with such a focus.

Set on the Italian Adriatic sea during the rise of the fascists, the Porco Rosso (Crimson Pig) is an aerial bounty hunter who is also, literally, a giant pig. ing the action is the young woman Fio, personifying spunky, impressionable youth. Together they take arms against air pirates and an ambitious American.

Even if the plot is pure pulp, this movie is not (just) for kids. It was reportedly written for tired, middled-aged businessmen flying on JAL -- the movie first "aired" in-flight, and was shortly released in theaters. The characters, even ing characters, are handled with sensitivity and tact. The talents of Hayao Miyazaki, who wrote and directed the picture, are show-cased to very good effect here. Also on beautiful display is the famed Studio Ghibli attention to detail and framecount.

Why is Porco Rosso a pig? We're never told. Even the ending is a little vague. In a way, the movie feels incomplete, like a pilot for a series or the start of a movie franchise. Its a shame that even 10 years later there aren't any followups. Maybe this is an effect of the genesis of the movie, or maybe it's a way to push the sales of the associated manga. Or maybe its just that the plot is there because there has to be a plot, but the real substance of the movie is the atmosphere, the visuals, the pure fantasy.

The voiceovers, even the English voiceovers, are excellent. The songs are unobtrustive, not all that memorable.

In summary, you'll be sucked in by the beauty and the atmosphere. Before you know it, the movie is over, much to your chagrin.