That joy always comes back to the devil may care Porco himself, a surly loner who’s part Rick Blaine, part Giancarlo Giannani, and entirely wanted by the Italian government for “treason, decadence, pornography, and being a filthy pig.”
It’s no accident that “Porco Rosso” is set at the height of the interwar period, the film’s hyper-fluid animation and general air of frivolity shadowed by the looming specter of fascism and a deep sense of future nostalgia for all that would be forfeited to it. But there’s also such a rich vein of fun to it — this is a movie that feels as breezy and ecstatic as flying a Ghibli plane through a clear summer afternoon (or at least as ecstatic as it makes that seem). That joy always comes back to the devil may care Porco himself, a surly loner who’s part Rick Blaine, part Giancarlo Giannani, and entirely wanted by the Italian government for “treason, decadence, pornography, and being a filthy pig.” Which leads to Porco’s unforgettable response: “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist.” This may be one of Miyazaki’s lightest films, but that line alone carries the weight of an entire career. —DE