Porco Rosso (1992)

Title: Porco Rosso
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Genre: Anime
Highs: Exquisite attention to detail.
Lows: None
RhynoBot Grade: A

Another Miyazaki film and for the first time before I watched the movie I thought I wasn't going to like one of his films based on what I knew of the story, but I was wrong. Once again I found myself fully engaged in this movie and completely amazed by Miyazaki's attention to the smallest of details to bring realism to this animated film.

The plot of this film is a little strange and sounds absurd at first which is why I thought I wasn't going to like this movie. Basically, an ace seaplane fighter pilot for the Italian Air Force finds work as a mercenary taking down sea pirates in post WWI era, oh and he happens to be a pig (literally not metaphorically). We learn later that he wasn't always a pig but was in fact once human and was transformed after an emotional experience following a dogfight with the German's where he witnessed his best friend and fellow fighter pilots get shot out of the sky. He was the only survivor on both sides of the fight and from that point on he was transformed. Regardless, you soon forget about him being a pig as the action in the movie steps up almost immediately.

This being one of Miyazaki's later films you can see the influence of his earlier work in this movie. The Sea Pirates are very similar looking and in character to the pirates in "Castle in the Sky". The 17 year old girl engineer that re-builds Porco Rosso's seaplane has a very similar look and character to Nausicca from "Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind". And the little school girls Porco rescues from the Sea Pirates in the beginning of the movie are all 100% just like Mei from "My Neighbor Totoro". Normally it would bother me to see such strong resemblance of look and character from other movies but Miyazaki really makes it work. He obviously in a man that know how to please an audience and he proves it by taking some of the best elements of his previous films and using them again here, but changed enough to not make it unbearable.

Aside from great character development and a fantastic story, one thing Miyazaki always brings to the table is exquisite attention to even the smallest detail. For example, Porco flies a metallic skin seaplane painted a shiny crimson color, in certain scenes and angles you can glimpse Porco's reflection on the metallic structure just like you would in real life. Most animators would not bother to add such fine detail that most people would not even notice. In addition, all of the environmental scenes, Porco flying over the ocean, small islands in the Mediterranean, Seagulls flying, etc., all have such a rich level of detail and realism that you easily forget you are watching animation.

So Miyazaki does it again. Of all his films I would rank this movie behind Totoro, Nausicca, Castle, Spirited Away, and Mononoke but still far exceeds my expectations and far surpasses anything out there right now (barring Pixar) in animation.

This is another great Miyazaki film, you should see it.