Porco Rosso

I much prefer Miyazaki's more supernatural storytelling. I kept waiting for something, some impulse to grab me, but it didn't happen this time. So far, in all of Miyazaki's films, I've found something to grab me by the heart, unfortunately that doesn't happen here. It's not a bad film at all, there's a lot of flying, there's love, there's a curse. I'd say this one is aimed more at an older audience than children. A better 3 stars also for the realistic ending. (09.05.2010)

Visually, Porco Rosso does not deny Miyazaki's signature, but story-wise I found the film very different from other works of the "Japanese anime master". Instead of fantasy, a kind of absurdity was in the foreground all the time, especially in the character of Porco. Instead of the magical moments I am used to in other Miyazaki films, Porco Rosso is a film about flying and machismo - or in this case, "piggishness". Thanks to Porco and his curse, the film brimmed with a special touch and featured more than one humorous reference. I was most struck by the scene with the pilots, reminiscent of a kind of "Milky Way", accompanied by almost magical music. This is definitely a noteworthy film! (06.01.2021)

Many Miyazaki's films rely on the theme of girls' coming of age, not shying away from using various shōjo "girl" clichés, including all those flowery meadows, cutely fluffy animals, starry skies, and twinkling princes. But in Porco Rosso, he fully immersed himself in listing the most beautiful boyish clichés, and for the first time I understood what most uncritical admirers actually get from Miyazaki. This beautiful adventure about a stubborn pig-headed man who enjoys peace, good wine, food, and the purring engine of his wonderful flying machine brought me back so vividly to a period in my life when I didn't have to measure my fantasies against reality and preferred not to learn too much about the world, in order to maintain the illusion that somewhere in the Adriatic Sea I would have my own comfortable island cave, from which I would fly out at night for a drink in a seaside restaurant, constantly, with a cigarette in the corner of my mouth, rejecting the women who would be unconditionally in love with me. The appeal of this film lies in its loyalty to a boyish mentality, where the protagonist practically doesn't evolve at all throughout the story. Why should he? He has an unwritten agreement with the pirates that bounty hunters and robbers somehow need each other, even the American hotshot, when he gets a little roughed up, can still be fun to talk to. And as for the fact that history is developing around him, he is absolutely clear on the most important detail. No one has ever attacked my boyish nature so precisely. Tears long after the credits. Utter helplessness. (09.04.2024)

I share a love of flying with Hayao Miyazaki, so I was really looking forward to Porco Rosso, especially since I had no idea what to expect besides a pig pilot. And the result? Well, let's just say that this animated film has one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen – that WWI flashback is just beautiful. And the rest of it is worth it too. The alternation of genres, the storytelling where what would otherwise stand remains sort of in the background and hidden in hints, the really great animation of the aerial combat, the surrealism and the unadulterated emotion at just the right time. And the ever-present wisdom: better to be a pig than a fascist. (16.07.2023)