Originally planned as a short film for Japanese airlines, Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso (1992) quickly developed into a full feature movie.
During its production, a series of war conflicts in Yugoslavia and Croatia erupted, which left an impact on the story and transformed it and greatly complicated matters, especially taking into consideration that the story is set in and near those regions.
Set after WWI, the story takes us to areas of the Adriatic Sea, where the title character Porco works as a bounty hunter, chasing airborne pirates. A war veteran, Porco Rosso’s actual name is Marco Pagot (Rousolini in the U.S. version). In a mysterious event, unclear even to Marco himself, he has been cursed to bear an appearance of an anthropomorphic pig - hence his new name, which means Red Pig in Italian.
The main plot focuses on a confrontation between Porco and an arrogant young American pilot, Curtis, who has been hired by the pirates. As a result of one of the first encounters, Porco needs to travel to Milan to have most of his plane rebuilt. There, we meet the mechanic Piccolo, his granddaughter Fio, and a whole huge group of women related to them, who all work together to bring Porco’s plane back to life.
Once again, Hayao Miyazaki offers his audience his unvarnished views, often expressed directly in the characters’ lines, like when Porco states he would “much rather be a pig than a fascist.” A good deal of attention, as always, is also focused on strong female characters, who are so wonderfully varied, and just as wonderfully loveable.
Since the movie is set in Southern Europe, this time we can appreciate scenic views fairly different from Studio Ghibli’s usual settings. Porco Rosso’s locations radiate hot Summer weather and cool sea breezes, all well accompanied by Joe Hisaishi’s music, an unchanging feature in all Miyazaki’s films.
After watching When The Wind Rises (2014), I could see how much the newer animation was influenced by Porco Rosso, and how much they have in common. Porco Rosso, however, is light-hearted, brings a smile, and provides a moment of relief for someone seeking a wee bit of a laugh, as well as a bit of mystery, while still sustaining more serious meditations and moments.
In a way, this is one of the strangest Ghibli movies I’ve seen.
It doesn’t go along with expectations, directing the viewer to take a different way to a completely different conclusion that might not have been anticipated. We do not get any clearer explanation for Porco’s curse than he was able to describe (consisting only of a blurred memory). We don’t get to know if he ever has the curse lifted from him.
In 2011, Hayao Miyazaki announced that he’d be preparing a sequel to Porco Rosso, set many years later. He restricted himself to only writing it, with Hiromasa Yonebayashi being the director. However, the current state of the production is unknown due to the departure of both gentlemen from the studio, as well as the studio’s own hiatus status.
I surely hope this sequel becomes a reality. I would be happy to watch it, as it would assuredly provide more of the unique pleasures of the original Porco Rosso.
