For those of us who have grown up with the adage “When pigs fly” to represent an event that will never happen, the truth is a pig did on film in 1992 when legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki released Porco Rosso to the wilds. Isn’t that precious?
In his standard a-bit-too-long and not-terribly-funny style, Miyazaki describes flying ace Porco Rosso (voice of Michael Keaton) winning the day with aviation acrobatics and combat skillz while maintaining the head of a pig – a curse of some sort, we are told. I’m used to Miyazaki not explaining much, but this one really does take the prosciutto. There’s next to nothing by way of explanation as to why this great flying ace now has the head of a pig; no friend, rival, or lover seems to think anything of it, and Porco (nee: “Marco”) is so laid back that he seems unconcerned about the whole thing, like it’s a birth mark. He has neither fury nor angst about his state of being, nor does he have any aspirations about changing back to normal.
So the 
film is essentially about the antics of an Italian hero-turned-mercenary who just happens to have the head of a pig, but that part is inconsequential.
OK, movie, have it your way.
This is kind of a 1929 free-lance international Top Gun competition. All interested parties have to take out Porco to stake their claim on world’s best flying ace. Meanwhile, Porco is busy defying cruise pirates, so he’s making no friends there, either. After rescuing a gaggle of schoolgirls from pirates, Porco finds his plane in ne
ed of repairs and the wounded hog is attacked out of the air by a rival.
Suddenly, without a plane and presumed dead (what will café owner Gina do without her favorite entrée?), Porco has to lie low (Italy has a warrant for his arrest on desertion counts) and secretly rebuild which he does thanks to his Milanese mechanic, Piccolo (David Ogden Stiers). Well, not quite Piccolo, whom Porco can’t quite afford at the moment, but his daughter, Fio (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), secretly a genius aviation engineer/mechanic despite being like 12. Ok, whatever.
There’s this weird part in the movie which delves heavily into a feminist angle – the depression has created a labor vacuum and the plane’s design and repairs are handled entirely by a female work force, which sounds kinda cool until you realize they are all working for a literal chauvinist pig, no? To be fair, Porco isn’t so much a chauvinist as he is a completely solo act, disdainful of all he might have to contact.
This film isn’t a Miyazaki gem. There is some lovely animation involving dogfights and general aviation antics, and there is one fantastical “brush with death” as Porco is introduced to a legion of deceased combat aviators going to meet their maker. However, I found the titular hero too distant to enjoy and his motivation too personal for empathy. I’m left thinking the film wasn’t bad, but without these annual Ghibli re-releases, Porco Rosso would never see light of day again.
There once was a famed aviator
In skills, no rival was greater
When he acquired a curse
His fortunes went reverse
And so did ours, two full hours later
Rated PG, 94 Minutes
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki
Genre: Crazy-ass Miyazaki crap
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Studio Ghibli acolytes
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “You know it’s just a guy who is a pig, yes?”
