toqtaqiya2 Review of Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso (1992)

Porco Rosso is that rare animated film that will be enjoyed more by adults than by children.

[8/10 · 19 October 2010]

Porco Rosso is a sympathetic nod from a middle-aged man to his contemporaries, to all the guys who had the same dreams of changing the world, getting the girl, and winning the race, and somehow found themselves transformed into stout, middle-aged men with not much to show for all those ideals and dreams. It's also a wonderful children's film. There's a wonderful cast of characters. Every frame is well crafted, with some of the most marvelous aerial sequences ever animated and skies so exquisite the background painters should be designing for God. Joe Hisaishi's score is perfectly matched to the flow of every scene. The script is nicely paced, with the gradual, almost casual building of the main characters flowing so naturally from the action that it looks effortless. The director's political and social concerns are as clear as ever. Ultimately it's Porco Rosso's magnificent flying machines that are the star turns here. Their sleek designs, based on 1920s Italian models, and their thrilling animation are where Hayao Miyazaki's imagination really takes flight.