Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso (Kurenai No Buta) (1992)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Starring: This is a cartoon, and I doubt anyone would know the original Japanese voices

From: Studio Ghibli

I finally saw another Studio Ghibli film; this one happened to be a rental from the local library. I thought it was fine but nothing more. I watched the subtitled version instead of the dubbed version where Michael Keaton voices a human-pig... although the thought of such a thing is so wacky... anyhow, my Letterboxd review of this is below: 

As I slowly (but hopefully I'll start picking up the pace) go through the Studio Ghibli catalogue, I was planning on it being more in chronological order. However, when I saw that my local library had a copy of this for free and I am pretty sure this is the only thing they have from the studio, I figured I should check it out for the week. After watching it... at least I know that just about all the films from Ghibli will be bigger and better than this one was.

I figured the plot would be different as one of the production companies was Japan Airlines; this was originally going to be a short before they changed their minds and it became feature length. The setting is real life: the Mediterranean area of the 1930's, where fascism is just around the corner. It deals with a former World War I pilot turned bounty hunter called the Crimson Pig who goes after “air pirates” that attack ships. He has an American rival in Curtiss and he forms an uneasy alliance with a 17 year old named Fio who is the granddaughter of his mechanic.

Oh, and this Crimson Pig is literally that, an anthropomorphic pig who was changed from a human to swine during the war and everyone else in the world is human and most don't seem to notice or care that there's an anthropomorphic pig walking around, occasionally acting like an A-hole. Personally, that was too much absurdity for me. Then, there's the story being quite slight, especially when compared to what I've heard about the stories of most Ghibli movies.

However, at least I can rate this as 3 stars. The world is interesting, Fio is a pretty cool character (although a big plot point being that many adult men pine after her and note her attractiveness... a little creepy) and the animation is nicely done. While I have some story issues at least the world filled with pilots-many of them less than virtuous-and a cool bar/nightclub run by strong-willed Gina (another character I enjoyed) and who can happen to belt out a tune... that sounds like a cool world to live in aside from knowing that fascism will soon invade. Such touches did help make me enjoy this more than I normally would have.