Porco RossoSome people hide behind a mask of selfishness to conceal old wounds and vulnerability. These are sometimes sensitive people for whom life has delivered more than their fair share of tragedy. Take ace pilot turned bounty hunter, Marco Pagot (Rossolini in the English dub), a.k.a. "Porco Rosso" (translated as "Red Pig"). An ex-World War I fighter pilot, Marco now takes on commissions to shoot down air pirates in the Adriatic Sea circa 1929. Seemingly fixated on money, he mostly keeps to himself in his island hideaway, lazing around while his plane falls into disrepair in the grotto. Oh, and he has a pig's face owing to a curse. How Marco came to be this way is the great mystery of Porco Rosso.
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The animated films of Studio Ghibli are well known for depicting fantastical locations and the imaginative beings that dwell within them. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Porco Rosso is only a departure from this in that it is set in the real world, even though it retains the same vibrant visuals and colorful characters that Ghibli is known for. Despite the altogether light-hearted attitude toward things like machine guns and dogfights, a healthy amount of the film is based on reality. Locations in and around Greece and Italy are depicted with a high degree of verisimilitude, as are the planes and weaponry. Of course what stands out as distinctly unrealistic is a man with a pig's face. This is more than simply being a visual motif for the audience's benefit, since all of the other characters in Porco Rosso observe his facial affectation, yet none go screaming into the night at the sight of a "monster". Like many of the Studio Ghibli films, this is because the fantastic is usually a metaphor for something else. For Marco, this is alluded to early on during a conversation with his friend, Gina, who owns and performs in an island cafe for pilots, one which is treated as neutral ground for them. That's why assorted air pirates scheming to retaliate against Marco can enjoy a drink in the same bar as our protagonist. Gina and Marco enjoy a quiet moment, and she shares that one of her former husbands--named Bellini--died in aerial combat. It isn't until later that we comprehend that Marco was painfully aware of this detail, since he flew with Bellini in that fatal encounter, which must have taken place before he was transformed. So that leaves the question: just when was Marco "cursed" with a pig's face, as Gina puts it? The answer isn't so clear. My wife has suggested that it may have manifested as a form of survivor's guilt. Certainly logical considering the significance of this event in Marco's life. Perhaps he was the one who cursed himself then. Specifically what triggered the transformation isn't clear, but what is interesting is that in a few rare moments, others have seen his human face at a glance. This usually follows some event where he is being his "true self".
Jungian psychology explores the idea that people hide their true selves from others as a means of protecting their "self" through "masks". From this point of view, it could be argued that Marco's pig-face amounts to an elaborate metaphor for his own masking of his personality. In the flashback depicting the firefight where Bellini died, Marco has a human face and cries out for his life to be taken instead of his friend's. Compare this selflessness with the selfishness he displays when gouging a client for more money before he sets out to stop a group of air pirates from kidnapping a class of students. Marco is reported to be wanted for arrest in fascist Italy on trumped up charges, yet his name is clearly Italian, so he may feel "betrayed" by his homeland, stoking the flames of cynicism in his heart. He is despised by the whole piracy syndicate operating in the Adriatic Sea, to the point that they have hired an American flyboy and wannabe actor named Donald Curtiss to hunt him down...which he all but does after ambushing him while Marco was en route for repairs. So Marco knows that he must be on his guard always or risk losing everything, not least of which is his life. This kind of living can harden a man (or a pig), so there appears to be little to warm this embittered bounty hunter's heart. When he brings his wreck of a plane to be rebuilt--at a high premium by the expert engineer, Piccolo--he meets his seventeen year old granddaughter, Fio, who not only shares his passion for planes, but an acumen for engineering surpassing her grandfather's. Ultimately, Marco and Fio escape to his island retreat, and as he prepares for a showdown with Curtiss, the half-asleep Fio sees--only for a moment--the man who Marco truly is as he inspects his ammunition. Why here? I think that it is because in this moment of deep concentration, he has put aside the mask he wears to fool everyone else into believing that he is just a self-serving mercenary, instead of someone who enjoys the thrill of flying and aerial combat while defending Fio's honor. This happens again at the end of Porco Rosso after an ennobled Marco offers to act as bait for the Italians so that everyone else can escape. The selflessness shines through, and pierces through the shadow Marco has crafted to conceal who he really is. So the lesson of Porco Rosso is that despite the hardships that weigh on us and force us to transform ourselves to avoid future suffering, we all long to reveal our true selves deep down, without reproach or fear, instead of only with our closest inner circle...and maybe not even then.
Recommended for: Fans of a heartwarming animated adventure about bravery and confidence, set amid the backdrop of the late Twenties in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Porco Rosso is a bit of a riff on the classic fairy tale, "The Princess and the Frog", combined with that quintessential Studio Ghibli charm, and is loaded with family friendly action and excitement.
Jungian psychology explores the idea that people hide their true selves from others as a means of protecting their "self" through "masks". From this point of view, it could be argued that Marco's pig-face amounts to an elaborate metaphor for his own masking of his personality. In the flashback depicting the firefight where Bellini died, Marco has a human face and cries out for his life to be taken instead of his friend's. Compare this selflessness with the selfishness he displays when gouging a client for more money before he sets out to stop a group of air pirates from kidnapping a class of students. Marco is reported to be wanted for arrest in fascist Italy on trumped up charges, yet his name is clearly Italian, so he may feel "betrayed" by his homeland, stoking the flames of cynicism in his heart. He is despised by the whole piracy syndicate operating in the Adriatic Sea, to the point that they have hired an American flyboy and wannabe actor named Donald Curtiss to hunt him down...which he all but does after ambushing him while Marco was en route for repairs. So Marco knows that he must be on his guard always or risk losing everything, not least of which is his life. This kind of living can harden a man (or a pig), so there appears to be little to warm this embittered bounty hunter's heart. When he brings his wreck of a plane to be rebuilt--at a high premium by the expert engineer, Piccolo--he meets his seventeen year old granddaughter, Fio, who not only shares his passion for planes, but an acumen for engineering surpassing her grandfather's. Ultimately, Marco and Fio escape to his island retreat, and as he prepares for a showdown with Curtiss, the half-asleep Fio sees--only for a moment--the man who Marco truly is as he inspects his ammunition. Why here? I think that it is because in this moment of deep concentration, he has put aside the mask he wears to fool everyone else into believing that he is just a self-serving mercenary, instead of someone who enjoys the thrill of flying and aerial combat while defending Fio's honor. This happens again at the end of Porco Rosso after an ennobled Marco offers to act as bait for the Italians so that everyone else can escape. The selflessness shines through, and pierces through the shadow Marco has crafted to conceal who he really is. So the lesson of Porco Rosso is that despite the hardships that weigh on us and force us to transform ourselves to avoid future suffering, we all long to reveal our true selves deep down, without reproach or fear, instead of only with our closest inner circle...and maybe not even then.
Recommended for: Fans of a heartwarming animated adventure about bravery and confidence, set amid the backdrop of the late Twenties in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Porco Rosso is a bit of a riff on the classic fairy tale, "The Princess and the Frog", combined with that quintessential Studio Ghibli charm, and is loaded with family friendly action and excitement.