"Kurenai no buta" (named after the protagonist) or "Porco Rosso" is a Japanese animated movie from 1992, so this one, which runs for over 1.5 hours, is already over 25 years old now and of course here we have a work by Hayao Miyazaki for Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki is certainly still a contender for most known Japanese filmmaker these days if we look at those still alive and maybe if we exclude Kurosawa also a contender for most popular Japanese filmmaker of all times. When he made this one we have here, he was already really established with a big body of work. Now I cannot say anything about the Japanese voice actors for this one because a) I have never heard the names and b) I watched the dubbed version in my native language (German), but I did like the voice work overall. Compared to other works by Miyazaki I have seen, this one here does not offer too much fantasy elements really, which is of course a bold statement given the fact that the main character is a pig or at least has the face of a pig. But they did all they could to make him seem human. Many examples for that: Of course he can talk, the sunglasses, he is able to fly a plane, beautiful females (humans) are falling for him etc. The fact that he has the face of a pig though is an aspect that plays a big role throughout the movie, even if it is not in a way you'd expect. He is respected enough because of how great a pilot he is and people do not judge him too much for or even talk about too much about his face. But there are many funny one-liners making references to that and you have to experience these yourself because they most of the time come out of nowhere and I don't want to spoil the fun. There is one character worried about another character that something could happen to him and she says something like he will end up as roasted pork or near the end there is a reference about another character saying he will turn him into a special brand of ham.
So from that description you already see that I liked the comedy here a lot, probably more than any other aspect. There are other fun moments (again involving one-liners) that are not linked to pork and show that the film really at times does not take itself too seriously and I quite liked that. It made the watch certainly lighter because sadly I must say while the characters were good and slightly memorable too, the overall flying plot did not have too much of an impact on me and I don't know.. I think Miyazaki could have delivered better there, for example about the memorable red plane and how it crashes early on, but he just has a new one at some point. Or also the whole key story about how he became who he is today with his curse. This all could have been handled more emotionally. But still, don't get me wrong. The film is a success. And I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. How can you not fall in love with Fio honestly, regardless of the size of her butt. Another fun quote. Sigh.. I am a bit afraid that if this film had been made today, some white knights and hardcore feminists would be offended. So maybe it is good that is this old. When she finally kisses the protagonist on the cheek, it is a fairly cute moment. What else can I say about this one. Oh yeah, it is very kids-friendly. Yes the American pilot is an antagonist, but he is never scary or evil or anything like that really. He even gets compliments from the two female protagonists near the end, even if they like Porco/Marco more. By the way, this film is set in Italy, not too expected for a Japanese movie of course.
And then there are these air pirates. They are rather clumsy and incompetent like Team Rocket from Pokemon or the Daltons from Lucky Luke, again no scary antagonists and they reminded me physically of a mix between Schnauz/Scuttle (from Mickey Mouse comics) and Bluto, the antagonist to Popeye in these really old cartoons. Oh well, the scene when their leader photobombs the Fio picture says it all about how scary and intimidating they are. I mean they are even accepted as referees somehow. On the contrary really. With their kidnapping early on, they are really gentlemen-like towards these 15 girls saying stuff like none of them should be left behind that no friendships are destroyed or so. It was pretty funny for how absurd it was really. But yes, this is a prime example of evidence how this is a film for kids and grown-ups alike.
The very ending I liked a lot too. No need for a forced happy ending like Porco getting one of the girls who both want him. The character was really interesting too admittedly, sometimes even felt a bit like James Bond. By the way, Fio seemed so young to me that I was surprised they actually included her as a potential love interest, maybe also because the voice in the German dub sounded like from a child. But what I really wanted to say is that the ending also did not deliver in terms of the curse being lifted. We don't know about that as we only find out from Fio's narration that she never saw Porco again and we don't know what happened to him or what other adventures he experienced. Actually, this really could have made for a sequel in which we could have found out. But the inclusion of the lifelong friendship between her and Porco's other love interest, who surprised me that she can also fly a plane because she seemed so posh and elegant, was a great idea and put a big smile on my lips and it was almost perfect. Maybe it was actually perfect, in terms of how they closed the film before the closing credits rolled in. Let me think, what else can I say about this movie. The music was good too, but also not as great as Miyazaki at his prime from what I have seen in other movies and this description can pretty much be used for almost every aspect and character here really with the exception of Fio, who is definitely among the best Studio Ghibli has come up with since their creation. So overall, no hesitation for me in giving this film a thumbs-up. I would not say it was a great watch, but a good one for sure and if you are a little bit more into aviation than myself, then perhaps you will really end up liking it and see it as one of 1992's finest. What I found a bit strange here, was that there were at least two character inclusions, even if only very brief and insignificant, who looked like Hitler and taking the war background of this movie into account, I wonder how much of this was coincidence. But it's okay. Those were kinda fun too. So I give this film a positive recommendation, but honestly, I don't think I even have to because chances are low you consider watching this one without having seen anything else by Miyazaki and then you should be able to make up your mind yourself. It was a daring project all in all I say and the outcome is convincing, sometimes even impressive. Go watch. A bit of a pity nobody else was in my showing, but I enjoyed this private screening for sure too. Still the film deserves better because it was really nice to see it on the big screen. If you get the chance to do so too, don't miss out. Pigs can fly and this film is up in the high quality regions too.
So from that description you already see that I liked the comedy here a lot, probably more than any other aspect. There are other fun moments (again involving one-liners) that are not linked to pork and show that the film really at times does not take itself too seriously and I quite liked that. It made the watch certainly lighter because sadly I must say while the characters were good and slightly memorable too, the overall flying plot did not have too much of an impact on me and I don't know.. I think Miyazaki could have delivered better there, for example about the memorable red plane and how it crashes early on, but he just has a new one at some point. Or also the whole key story about how he became who he is today with his curse. This all could have been handled more emotionally. But still, don't get me wrong. The film is a success. And I enjoyed it quite a bit overall. How can you not fall in love with Fio honestly, regardless of the size of her butt. Another fun quote. Sigh.. I am a bit afraid that if this film had been made today, some white knights and hardcore feminists would be offended. So maybe it is good that is this old. When she finally kisses the protagonist on the cheek, it is a fairly cute moment. What else can I say about this one. Oh yeah, it is very kids-friendly. Yes the American pilot is an antagonist, but he is never scary or evil or anything like that really. He even gets compliments from the two female protagonists near the end, even if they like Porco/Marco more. By the way, this film is set in Italy, not too expected for a Japanese movie of course.
And then there are these air pirates. They are rather clumsy and incompetent like Team Rocket from Pokemon or the Daltons from Lucky Luke, again no scary antagonists and they reminded me physically of a mix between Schnauz/Scuttle (from Mickey Mouse comics) and Bluto, the antagonist to Popeye in these really old cartoons. Oh well, the scene when their leader photobombs the Fio picture says it all about how scary and intimidating they are. I mean they are even accepted as referees somehow. On the contrary really. With their kidnapping early on, they are really gentlemen-like towards these 15 girls saying stuff like none of them should be left behind that no friendships are destroyed or so. It was pretty funny for how absurd it was really. But yes, this is a prime example of evidence how this is a film for kids and grown-ups alike.
The very ending I liked a lot too. No need for a forced happy ending like Porco getting one of the girls who both want him. The character was really interesting too admittedly, sometimes even felt a bit like James Bond. By the way, Fio seemed so young to me that I was surprised they actually included her as a potential love interest, maybe also because the voice in the German dub sounded like from a child. But what I really wanted to say is that the ending also did not deliver in terms of the curse being lifted. We don't know about that as we only find out from Fio's narration that she never saw Porco again and we don't know what happened to him or what other adventures he experienced. Actually, this really could have made for a sequel in which we could have found out. But the inclusion of the lifelong friendship between her and Porco's other love interest, who surprised me that she can also fly a plane because she seemed so posh and elegant, was a great idea and put a big smile on my lips and it was almost perfect. Maybe it was actually perfect, in terms of how they closed the film before the closing credits rolled in. Let me think, what else can I say about this movie. The music was good too, but also not as great as Miyazaki at his prime from what I have seen in other movies and this description can pretty much be used for almost every aspect and character here really with the exception of Fio, who is definitely among the best Studio Ghibli has come up with since their creation. So overall, no hesitation for me in giving this film a thumbs-up. I would not say it was a great watch, but a good one for sure and if you are a little bit more into aviation than myself, then perhaps you will really end up liking it and see it as one of 1992's finest. What I found a bit strange here, was that there were at least two character inclusions, even if only very brief and insignificant, who looked like Hitler and taking the war background of this movie into account, I wonder how much of this was coincidence. But it's okay. Those were kinda fun too. So I give this film a positive recommendation, but honestly, I don't think I even have to because chances are low you consider watching this one without having seen anything else by Miyazaki and then you should be able to make up your mind yourself. It was a daring project all in all I say and the outcome is convincing, sometimes even impressive. Go watch. A bit of a pity nobody else was in my showing, but I enjoyed this private screening for sure too. Still the film deserves better because it was really nice to see it on the big screen. If you get the chance to do so too, don't miss out. Pigs can fly and this film is up in the high quality regions too.