Have you watched or heard of Porco Rosso (Kurenaino Buta) also titled “The Last Romantic Hero or the Flying Pig”?
For those who enjoy animes with heroes, this is a good choice, and Porco Rosso is a unique hero. In fact, he can even be considered a bounty hunter.
Porco Rosso is an anime that narrates the adventures of a seaplane pilot in Italy in 1920. Next, we will see the details of this film. Contains spoilers!
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Technical details of Porco Rosso
Porco Rosso is based on the manga Hikōtei Jidai by Hayao Miyazaki, directed and written by Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli, released on July 18, 1992.
The film is an adventure and has a runtime of one and a half hours. The main cast includes Shūichirō Moriyama, Tokiko Kato, Akemi Okamura, and Akio Otsuka. The film grossed $59 million.
It is worth mentioning that the film of this work is available on Netflix.
Who is Porco Rosso?
When we watch a movie, the first curiosity we have is why the main character looks like a pig. Throughout the anime, we do not see other characters with hybrid characteristics between human and animal.
As the story unfolds, clues about Porco’s past and his previous characteristics emerge. His real name is Marco Parrot, a former captain who served in the French Air Force.
I imagined that throughout the anime film he would uncover what happened to him, but that does not happen. When questioned by another character about the reason for his appearance, he simply replies that he does not know.
It seems that Porco Rosso looks like a pig due to a curse, but not many details are provided. The film shows some scenes from Porco Rosso’s life in the air force before the curse.
He lost all his friends and battle companions; only he survived and decided not to get involved in battles to defend the homeland anymore. He became a bounty hunter.
Plot of Porco Rosso
Porco Rosso takes place in the Mediterranean Sea, where seaplanes dominated the waters. He faced air pirates in search of honor, money, and everything he considered valuable.
Porco Rosso has the same physical characteristics (except for the face) and habits as humans.
He has a great friend, Gina, the owner and singer of the “Hotel Adriano,” which serves as a meeting point for various seaplane pilots. She is loved and respected by all.
Gina has been married at least three times but became a widow. In fact, her last husband was a close friend of Porco Rosso when he worked in the Air Force. But he died in the last battle before Porco’s transformation.
She has a secret crush on Porco Rosso and has known him for many years since he was a normal human being. But he never realized this.
In a battle with sky pirates, Porco Rosso’s seaplane is destroyed, and he goes to ‘Piccolo,’ the only trustworthy place he knows. The workshop is named after his friend, an airplane engine specialist.
Piccolo has only women on his staff due to the departure of men from the city in search of jobs. Porco Rosso feels a certain prejudice regarding this, especially when Fio, Piccolo’s seventeen-year-old granddaughter, takes on the responsibility of refurbishing his plane.
Despite being reluctant, he allows it, and the plane manages to work, but Fio decides to return with Porco Rosso to ensure the seaplane operates well.
Upon returning, they go to Porco’s hideout but are surprised by sky pirates wanting to kill him. Fio negotiates with them, proposing a fair fight between seaplanes. The bet is her hand in marriage for Curtis if Porco loses. If Porco wins, they will receive a suitable amount of money to pay their debts.
Donald Curtis accepted immediately as he was impressed by Fio’s beauty. He is an American and a talented pilot. He is called in as additional help by Mama Aiuto to neutralize Porco Rosso. Mama Aiuto is the head of the sky pirates.
The competition is fierce, but Porco manages to win. And Gina appears at the end in her plane to offer help, but he simply hands her Fio so she can be taken to a civilized place.
Fio begins to narrate the film after this. She shows a certain undefined passage of time and says that she became great friends with Gina, became a great seaplane engineer, and they never heard or saw Porco Rosso again.
Critiques present in the anime film
Post-war world – the film takes place in 1920, shortly after a war had ended, and nothing returned to normal; it was still common to see bombs and debris falling from the sky. But of course, since it is an animation, little emphasis was placed on how truly dark this period was and its difficulties to recover.
Fascism – Porco Rosso says during the film, “I prefer to be a pig than to be a fascist” when called back to the air force. This makes it clear that this regime harmed the entire population, perhaps implying that because of them he ended up becoming a pig for refusing to serve the nation.
Deconstruction of the hero – The hero is a pig who is also a bounty hunter who does not care about fitting into standards but about keeping his hands clean of blood. He is not the “good guy” in everything. He is critical, drinks and smokes a lot.
How women are viewed in society – If currently, women are barred from doing many things because of their gender, then it was even more complicated during this period. In the seaplane workshop, there were only women, and Porco Rosso had to overcome prejudice and trust them.
The airplane engineer, Fio, seventeen years old, wore pants and, although she was quite sweet, she was very determined, intelligent, and tough when necessary. Showing that a woman can perform roles typically assigned to men and receive recognition for it.
Have you watched Porco Rosso? If so, what did you find most interesting about the film?
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