Title: Porco Rosso
Released: 1992
Starring: Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, Kimberly Willams
Plot: Set in 1930s Italy, veteran WW1 pilot Porco Rosso (Keaton)
makes a living hunting the local sky pirates, when not drinking away his evenings
at his long-time friend Gina’s bar. However when the local sky pirates hire the
arrogant American Ace Curtis (Elwes), Porco finds his peaceful life thrown into
turmoil as he heads towards an inevitable showdown for dominance of the skies
with Curtis, while also unintentionally gaining a feisty mechanic in the form
of Fio (Willams).
Review: As I’ve covered in my previous Studio Ghibli reviews, studio founder Hayao Miyazaki has always held a fascination with
flight and flying machines, which really make this, his love letters to these
passions, even more so when he is given such free reign to explore these
passions here in a way hadn’t had with his previous films and it’s an
opportunity he fully embraces
One of the more overlooked titles in the Ghibli back
catalogue alongside the likes of “Little Norse Prince” and “Pom Poko” it is
still unclear to myself why it isn’t viewed as being on the same level of
"Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Laputa: Castle in the Sky” especially when
this is perfect entry title to Ghibli’s
with its fast and humorous plotting, colourful characters and exciting
flight scenes all make for an accessible film even for viewers getting their first
taste of anime. As a result it joins a rather unique club of movies alongside
films likes of Kurosawa’s “Red Beard”, Hitchcock’s “I Confess” and Spielberg’s
“Amistad”. All films equally on a par with their better known films, yet for
one reason or another seemingly destined to remain as lower ranked films on
their resume.
Opening to Porco rescuing a group of kidnapped schoolgirls
from the Mamma Aiuto Gang, the tone of the film is set from the start, with the
bumbling sky pirates and Porco’s philosophy of only damaging the pirates planes
to put them out of action temporarily rather than permanently to ensure he can
hunt them another day as part of an unspoken symbiotic relationship they share,
if more from Porco’s side so he can maintain his carefree existence. The fact
that he also has the face of a pig being of minor concern to everyone it would
seem, even in terms of plotting were it is never fully explained and instead
alluded to an act of cowardice committed by Porco while serving in the Italian
Air force during WW1 and from whom he is still being AWOL.
The world the film is set is far from a realistic one as it
bars all the usual fantastical touches which have become so reknown with
Miyazaki’s work, even if this time he not setting the film in a fantastical
land, but instead Miyazaki’s vision of the Adriatic coast and Milan in a pre-war Italy. The tone though
is kept intentionally light hearted throughout, as established in the opening
were we see the kidnapped schoolgirls being far from concerned at the prospect
of being kidnapped by the Mamma Aiuto Gang, especially when they spend the
experience generally causing mischief and havoc for the gang.
Despite the humorous tone the film still manages to fall
somewhere between the two distinct styles of film making Miyazaki, with his
film either falling into a cynical or positive categories, here he has made a
film which can never be placed in either categories as here he focuses on the
small things which make life worth living, while alluding to the horror which
we create for ourselves with war during a flashback were Porco remembers seeing
a spectral trail which upon closer examination turns out to be the souls of
lost fighter pilots. Still this is a film which isn’t going for heavy social
commentary but wonder and amazement instead as here he is clearly firing on all
cylinders as both storyteller and craftsman.
Unquestionably though this is a film which Miyazaki has made
for himself first and foremost, as clearly seen by the amount of references to
the pioneers of aviation through to the details which have gone into the various
planes and thrilling Ariel sequences none the more seen than during the final
showdown between Porco and and Curtis which starts despite starting as a
traditional dogfight soon takes on a mischievous edge as the two pilots resort
to throwing junk from their planes at each other, before finally deciding to
land and settle things with a spontaneous boxing match. Such a sequence is only really pulled of on
the strength of the characters with Curtis being everybit the brash American
while at the same time clearly being modelled after the heroes Errol Flynn was
renown for playing while the two also clearly share a jawline to boot.
Unlike the other dubs which Studio Ghibli have received on their
other titles the English voice cast on hand here certainly contains a lot less
star power than some of the more popular titles, with Michael Keaton being the
closest the cast list comes to an A-list name. Despite this the dub is none the
less superb, with Keaton once again being unrecognisable as seems to always be
the way whenever he lends his voice to an animated character. Despite the lack of star power each
of the cast really embody their characters and really make them seem believable.
While it might not be as deep as “Princess Mononoke or
as playful as “My Neighbour Totoro” but this is still an enjoyable film none
the less while Miyazaki proves himself more than capable of working outside of
his comfort zone.
