Porco Rosso

Reviews
CinemaSerf
On the face of it, this is just another sublimely drawn Ghibli effort about a cursed creature - this time a pig - that flies a seaplane around the islands of 1930s Italy chasing air-pirates. Once you get in to it, though, it develops into a really cleverly woven story that offers us layers of characterisation from even this simplest of it's characters. The "pig" is sagely, cunning and adept as a pilot, frequently coming to the rescue of those kidnapped... He has a rival - the handsome American "Donald Curtis" who is out to steal not just his crown, but his gal! What ensues is an adventure film with loads of action; an healthy and lively dose of what might loosely be described as romance; plenty of pithily written dialogue and some beautiful animation. The story can be straightforward, but there is plenty of depth to the plot if you feel like looking for it. We are never explicitly told why he has been cursed, nor does the ending necessarily offer us complete satisfaction either - though it does come at then end of quite a fun duel between the two fliers. A lot of what we get from this film will depend on what we notice - there are plenty of subtleties to be had that are probably more obvious and/or meaningful on the second or even the third time of watching. "Howl's Moving Castle" (much later from 2004) is still my favourite from this studio, but this is a close run second and really well worth a watch - on a big screen if you can, this brings out the vivacity and vitality of this superior animated feature.
Movie Recommendation
The Wind Rises2013-07-20A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.More...
Kiki's Delivery Service1989-07-29A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.More...
Ocean Waves1993-10-09At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...More...
The Castle of Cagliostro1979-07-06After a successful robbery leaves famed thief Lupin the Third and his partner Jigen with nothing but a large amount of expertly crafted counterfeit bills, he decides to track down the forgers responsible—and steal any other treasures he may find in the Castle of Cagliostro, including the 'damsel in distress' he finds imprisoned there.More...
Princess Mononoke1997-07-12Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.More...
Whisper of the Heart1995-07-15Shizuku lives a simple life, dominated by her love for stories and writing. One day she notices that all the library books she has have been previously checked out by the same person: 'Seiji Amasawa'.More...
Pom Poko1994-07-16The Raccoons of the Tama Hills are being forced from their homes by the rapid development of houses and shopping malls. As it becomes harder to find food and shelter, they decide to band together and fight back. The Raccoons practice and perfect the ancient art of transformation until they are even able to appear as humans in hilarious circumstances.More...
The Cat Returns2002-07-19Young Haru rescues a cat from being run over, but soon learns it's no ordinary feline; it happens to be the Prince of the Cats.More...
Only Yesterday1991-07-20In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.More...
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind1984-03-11After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.More...
Ponyo2008-07-19When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.More...
Castle in the Sky1986-08-02A young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.More...
My Neighbor Totoro1988-04-16Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her.More...
From Up on Poppy Hill2011-07-16Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.More...
Howl's Moving Castle2004-09-09Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.More...
It's All About Love2018-12-21The story revolve around five couples of different generations. Their lives are woven together by coincidences but sometimes through very deliberate choices where the common driving force is the search for love.More...
The Secret World of Arrietty2010-07-1614-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items "borrowed" from the house's human inhabitants. However, life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.More...
Grave of the Fireflies1988-04-16In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.More...
Spirited Away2001-07-20A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.More...
The Crazy Stranger1998-04-08A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.More...
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