Porco Rosso [DVD]

I bought this for my friend as a Christmas present as she is the biggest studio ghibli fan that I have ever seen

Yet more proof from a master storyteller that anime is as high a form of art as any. This fabulously poignant and funny story contains many of Hayao Miyazaki's marks of quirky genius. It's about the life and loves of a seaplane pilot who has been turned into a pig and makes his living in the Adriatic as a bounty hunter, during the rise of Fascism in Italy. So what's so strange about that? After all, as he says, while he is calmly sorting through his sub-standard ammunition on the night before a Duel to the Death with his satisfyingly villanous arch-rival, "All middle-aged men are pigs."Unlike any other film in the world, and unlike the other Studio Ghibli films. An act of gratuitous creativity.Visually ravishing, but to anyone interested in animation and storytelling, this is a bottomless goldmine of expertise in every aspect of the art; timing, framing, characterisation, colour, background detail, you name it.Both Japanese and American voicework are flawless, though the Japanese version has some moments of true poignancy that were missed in the US version, which is slightly more facile in a couple of places. Every single character in the film is faultlessly animated, penetratingly observed, and funny. Every scene is worth seeing a hundred times.But the story itself, my dears, is just so plain inspired, teetering as it does along the brink of some fairly punchy taboo areas, but always with a delightfully clear and high and affectionate moral purpose.And even the credits at the end, which combine a hauntingly beautiful song by the wonderful Tokiko Kato with Hayao Miyazaki's hilarious sketches of tween-wars pilots and their planes, hold the viewer between tears and laughter.Miyazaki-san, thank you!Buy several copies and give all but one to your best friends.

Utterly gorgeous to look at, with at least two of the most beautiful sequences of animation ever filmed. But also very funny, engaging, and thoughtful by turns. Plenty here for film fans of any age and persuasion, plotlines ranging from old-fashioned unrequited love (Gina and Marco) to adventure (Porco v. just about everybody else in the air), to political intrigue (secret police etc), but the main focus is less the story than the sheer romance of flying and rescuing fantastic machines amid wonderful scenery. When Porco tells Fio the story of how he came to be cursed - which is all a bit existential, not that that matters at all - it's perhaps the most poignant scene of any animated film: gently enigmatic, glorious to see, and just plain heartbreaking, all at once.I first saw the film just over 10 years ago, slightly intrigued by what all the fuss was about, and loved it straightaway. Since then I've watched it probably every other year. More surprisingly, despite plenty of competition from fine newer releases by Miyazaki, Pixar et al., my children adore this film it as much as ever (they were 5-ish on first seeing it, so 15-ish now and still wanting to see it) - that's quite a test of the Crimson Pig's durability.Miyazaki, on form, is arguably the best hand-drawn animator alive. Porco Rosso is among his very finest work.

Porco Rosso is another Studio Ghibli gem. If you understand Pokemon you will get the themes and story lines in Studio Ghibli films. Porco Rosso is easy on the eye and brain. A selfish fighter pilot survives a fight his friend doesn't and he is commissioned by his friend to look after his now widow while being cursed (pig appearance) and dodging different authorities. The film deals with some quite adult themes such as death, relationships, bigotry, war and in the case of Porco Rosso challenging his beliefs about women and their place in society but it is done with an element of humour and satirical comedy. It seems to end abruptly but perhaps I missed something and I will have to watch it a few more times to get the ending - not everything is USA and have to have a conclusion. Our first purchase from Studio Ghibli was 'Howls moving Castle' which all ages in our family loved, we were very pleased with this second helping from SG. Its PG rating however is earned and you will be pestered by the very young with 'why' and 'whats that mean'. It is typical of Studio Ghibli.

Get over the curious fact that the hero of this story is an Italian WWI aviator curiously transformed into a pig and you won't fail to be amazed by 'Porco Rosso'. It's another Studio Ghibli classic and equal to any of their other movies including 'Spirited Away'.Porco Rosso (Crimson Pig) is a bounty hunter living in the Adriatic in the 1920s. He makes a living by flying his superb seaplane fighter and combatting the local air-pirates (also flying seaplanes) whilst admiring (from a distance) the woman he secretly loves (Gina). Again, don't get hung up on the pig thing: this is a mature and effective plot with some hard hitting political subtleties if you look closely and some spot on historical facts. The animation is first rate (as always with Ghibli) and some of the backgrounds are masterpieces: look closely at some of the framed paintings in Gina's room for example.Where 'Porco Rosso' really shines is in the air. The flying sequences are truly exhilirating and Messers Spielberg & Lucas don't come close (really!). As always this is clearly a labour of love and art not commerce.Oh: do me a favour and watch the subtitled Japanese version. You know it makes sense... :-)

Ambientato in Italia nel periodo d'oro degli idrovolanti. Un cartone animato meraviglioso, non c'è altro da aggiungere, un capolavoro dello studio Ghibli. Per chi lo ama consiglio di visitare il museo dell'aeronautica di Vigna di Valle sul lago di Bracciano vicino Roma, potrete vedere dal vero dei bellissimi idrovolanti da corsa rossi da cui si è ispirato il maestro Miyazaki.

Porco Rosso ist ein fliegendes Schwein, das gegen ein hohes Entgelt für den Staat Aufträge erfüllt. Zum Beispiel, wenn dumme Piraten wieder Schulmädchen gekidnappt haben. So begleiten wir Porco Rosso auf ein paar Abenteuern, bevor er zum ersten Mal eine “richtige” Herausforderung bekommt: Ein junger amerikanischer Flieger fordert ihn zum Duell heraus…Doch bevor es zu dem Duell kommt, muss Porco erst noch nach Milano, um sein kaputtes Flugzeug reparieren zu lassen. Dort erhält er unfreiwillig Hilfe der jungen Fio, die ihm sein Flugzeug komplett umbaut. Zurück auf seiner Insel beginnt dann das Duell, und plötzlich geht es um viel mehr als nur Geld – um seine Liebe.Porco Rosso hat einfach alles. Der Film ist spannend, romantisch, lustig, actionreich und traurig zugleich. Zudem sind die Flugszenen einfach so unglaublich gezeichnet, da kann kein Top Gun und kein gar nichts mithalten. Ich glaube, in Porco Rosso hat Miyazaki am meisten eigene Liebe gesteckt. Man merkt das einfach. Miyazaki liebt Flugzeuge, wie man in der Biographie lesen kann gehörte seinem Opa eine Flugfirma. Und das kommt dem Film absolut zugunsten. Die super ausgefeilte Story, der feine Humor, die unglaublich lebendigen Charaktere – PERFEKT. Mein absoluter Liebling, je mehr ich drüber nachdenke. Die Musik ist auch ein Genuss! Joe gibt wieder alles. Unbedingt besorgen!Der perfekte Samstag – Abend – Familien – Film: Der Sohn fiebert mit dem Helden mit, Mutter und Tochter sind von der Romanze begeistert, und der Vater mag Flugzeuge. So einfach ist das.Aber mal ernsthaft: Porco Rosso ist wirklich extrem ausgefeilt und fein, hinsichtlich jeder Sache, die in einem Film wichtig ist. Er ist einfach “Rund”, ein perfekter Kreis, glatt und schön.

One of my favourite Studio Ghibli animes. Fantasy, comedy and action all rolled into one. There are so many aspects in this movie that it's really hard to write any synopsis for it.A flying ace cursed to look like a pig, taking on a pompous foreigner in a battle for air supremacy and for the love of a woman, downright silly pirates who also want to take the protagonist down...and so on!This movie is nothing but FUN.

英語学習用に購入。音声と字幕の英語が一緒なのでとても満足してます。好きな作品なので飽きずに視聴できます。

Otro imprescindible título del siempre genial Hayao Miyazaki. Aunque es una de las más infravaloradas, para mi Porco Rosso es uno de los largometrajes más divertidos y mejor animados, es maravilloso como se transmite la velocidad de los Hidroaviones y como se puede hacer un mar tan sencillo y a la vez real, sin tener que recurrir a técnicas digitales. No puede faltar en tu colección de éste gran autor. Sólo se echa en falta más extras... Algo que siempre faltará en este tipo de ediciones.