So this is my first time having watched Porco Rosso, and I am kind of angry that this wasn't a movie that more people push as one of the best in his body of work. This movie was just pure joy to sit through, beginning to end and were I to do a list it would make my top five Miyazaki films easy. But what is Porco Rosso?
He is a former Italian Air Pilot who was at first a hero after World War I, only to abandon the military and become a mercenary who was cursed to have the face of a pig. The curse honestly isn't important to the story itself and never really comes into play. It's one of those things that, in most other shows, would probably bother me. But Porco Rosso... it's kind of a strange movie. Honestly, it's far and away from the strangest film I have ever seen by Miyazaki.
This is going to sound like a strange thing to say, but nothing about this show feels real. It's like every person in this movie is aware they are in a movie. You have a group of children giddy they are being kidnapped by pirates, a group of people helping him escape the Italian military gleeful telling him to just pretend the person going with him is a hostage, everyone is so bizarrely happy and carefree no matter the situation. Again, in any other movie, this could have tanked the entire movie. So why doesn't it kill this movie for me?
It's not because it's supposed to be funny, which to be fair it is and it's a joke to a degree. But the only person who doesn't seem to treat all this as a movie is Porco himself. At the same time doesn't react to everything like it's insane, so he's not acting as a comedy straight man. As time goes on, I started to realize this is how we are seeing the world is how Porco views the world. He feels like he doesn't belong like he shouldn't even be here. He's an old gun that doesn't belong in the modern world. I don't want to get into the details as to why, but it changes the world from just feeling like a long-running and funny joke to something kind of sad. He can't shake the feeling he doesn't belong, regardless of how obvious it is to everyone else how much people love and appreciate him. It does wonders to make what is otherwise a very unrealistic setting feel so genuine and authentic.
And really, the characters are all still fantastic. Even aside from Porco himself, the show's villain is incredibly fun and likable. The American Pilot who comes to try and best Porco isn't even a bad person, he's just short-sighted and extremely eccentric. He's not doing anything out of malice, he just struggles to see past the things he wants. He even kind of calls Porco out on his bullshit at one point, and it just hits home. It's a good reason to be frustrated with someone. Porco's real antagonist in this movie is himself and being able to accept his place in the world.
I don't even know what else to say here, because I honestly don't have a problem with this movie. Even Miyazaki's tendency to get a little on the preachy side (Never bad enough to ruin a movie), seems to avoid this movie entirely. It's a film I think deserves a lot more praise than it has otherwise gotten.
