Porco Rosso

Why did Disney make the DVD cover so boring?

By Zentilack

Summary

Set sometime in the 1920's, Porco Rosso is the tale of a WW I Italian flying ace who takes jobs fighting against air pirates and happens to have the head of a pig.  The titular Porco (voiced by Michael Keaton) drives the pirates to band together, hiring an American ace named Curtis (Cary Elwes) to shoot him down.



What I Expected

I have been a huge fan of director Hayao Miyazaki's work since seeing a bootleg VHS copy of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind back around 1992.  When I first got a chance to see Porco Rosso I found that I really liked it, but something felt a bit odd.  It was different from the other Miyazaki movies somehow, but I hadn't figured why until now (but we'll get into that in a bit).

In watching this again, I expected the same sort of life and joy that I always sensed in Miyazaki's other films.  I was hoping that the planes would be amazing and the characters likable.  I expected a great film.

The Bad

I couldn't help but notice that there was an awful lot of telling early on, rather than showing. Porco tends to speak as if someone is listening, explaining what he is doing or why something is happening, even when he is alone.  It's not really bad, and it feels like a bit of a nitpick, but it still seems like a couple of lines too many.

I have mixed feelings about the English dubbing for the Disney release.  They tried really hard to get the voices to match the lip flap, and they slightly altered some of the dialogue to do so.  Don't get me wrong, I understand how hard it is to get an English dub of a Japanese show to sound natural, but sometimes the alterations feel a little unnecessary and it slightly changes the feel of the movie when they do.

The voice actors are all talented people, but some of the voices just didn't feel right.  I really like Michael Keaton and Cary Elwes, but something didn't sit right with me for either of them.  Keaton as Porco is subdued, almost bored sometimes.  Yeah, Porco has some heavy losses in his past that he lives with, but the Japanese actor, Shuichiro Moriyama, feels like he has a little more life and energy in him.  Elwes (The Princess Bride) I didn't even recognize at first, but he does a southern accent that just doesn't sound quite right to me (and I'm from Texas).  He plays the character well, but I just wish he'd dial back the accent some.

Remember when I said that this felt a little different from Miyazaki's other films?  The difference, for me, is that the main character in Porco Rosso isn't a young adult.  Where the focus of all Miyazaki's other movies is on younger protagonists, Porco is a grown man in the vicinity of middle-age.  He's a veteran of WW I and been the best man at his friend's wedding.  While there is a brash, plucky young lady in the movie, she's a supporting character.  I don't really think this is a bad thing, myself, but I could see someone coming into this movie expecting a lead character like Nausicaa, or San from Spirited Away, and being disappointed. 

In the same way, while the protagonist is older and the story is a bit more mature in nature, the tone still feels the same as in the other movies.  That sense of joy and lighthearted adventure is fully intact.  Again, it is not exactly a typical Myazaki film, and some might be turned off by that.

The Good

I'm an aviation kind of guy and I've loved planes since I was a little kid.  It seems that Mr. Miyazaki feels much the same way, because the flying scenes in this movie are beautiful.  The detail of the planes, the attention to the various mechanisms of flight and the fluid movement of the aircraft through the sky are all a delight to me.  When I see Porco lift off and go banking through the sky I get the same sort of feeling that a child might when flying a kite for the first time.

I love it when a movie has great scenery and this one has lots of it.  Some modern movies exist in places that seem interesting in theory, but they just look fake.  The backgrounds here are so detailed, so engaging, and yet they feel real.  They feel lived in.  When Porco is in Milan, Italy, you can see the occasional fascist poster on the street as he walks past.  The interior shots of the air pirate's plane looks the way you would expect the inside of a rickety old plane to look.  But at the same time, these things never steal focus from the story and the characters.

Porco (in the English dub or original Japanese) is a lovable rogue who always looks out for himself, but when the chips are down will do the right thing.  Curtis is a headstrong and proud man who has some amusing quirks and honors his agreements.  Fio is a capable, caring young woman who faces her challenges now and feels the fear later.  Even the pirates are fun and likeable characters.

As I said before, this isn't really the typical Miyazaki movie.  The protagonist is older but it still has that same positive energy and adventure seen in so many of his other movies.  While some may find this a bad thing, I love it.  It's great fun to see a film so optimistic and full of life that isn't made for kids.  Sure, kids could watch it and be entertained, and there's nothing in the movie that is really inappropriate (except for Porco's smoking habit).  But adult viewers will get far more out of this movie than the kids will.

Finally, Joe Hisaishi composed the music for the movie.  Hisaishi is well known to any Miyazaki fan, as he has provided the score for all of Miyazaki's films.  While this is not his best, the music here is still tailor made and fits in every place.  It greatly enhances the feel of the movie without drawing too much attention to itself.

Final Thoughts

You know, I went on about a number of flaws I noticed while watching this time, but in the end I could easily overlook all of them.  This movie just makes me happy.  It's easy on the eyes, the music is great, and the protagonists (and even the antagonists) are likeable.  The conclusion is a little open ended, but it still gives you hope that the "Good End" that you imagine might have happened.  If you like Miyazaki's other films but haven't seen Porco Rosso, go watch it.  If you like airplanes and adventure, go watch this movie.

Is it a great film?  I think it is.  I definitely recommend this. 

Porco Rosso is not available on Instant Netflix, nor has it been released on Blu-Ray as of this review.  DVD copies are readily available and are going on Amazon for around $25.