ACT 1 REVIEW

(1993) Hayao Miyazaki
The logline for this movie would've been: 'something something flying pig'

Opening image~
Opening crawl tells us the:
Where it takes place - Mediterranean Sea
Who its about - Our protagonist the crimson pig (Porco Rosso), antagonist flying pirate(s), and the woman he loves
Some themes stated - Pride, love, money, and being a pig
When - When seaplanes were a thing, between World Wars, and the crawler is old timey war timey too
And the piglets take the edge off

++ The crawler is done in 10 languages, that always makes me wonder what those persons from those other places see when THEY watch this movie. When you're viewing something through someone elses eyes, the empathy engine we use for watching things gets a few more cylinders to draw power from. So this unseen world audience kinda became another character to experience the movie through.

Opening image 2:
1mins: Just another day. Island peace haven, old timey music, sun is shining, crystal clear water, all that good stuff. And a lone pig with his red seaplane. His feet up on the table, cigarette butts, alcohol, half an apple, what a flawed man, what a pig.

Porco gets a business call, he cant be bothered, he doesn't really care if your treasure is being stolen, but wait Porco there are hostage cats! I mean childrens! Save them Porco! Porco's a good guy, but he also starts haggling for more bounty, cause... hes a pig.

2mins: Chase scene. 'Its go time' orchestral music. The pirates are absurd, more funny than scarey. Bright colour pallette that's used throughout. We take cue from the kids who aren't taking the pirates seriously. The tone is light.

Porco preps his plane for take off, Miyazaki walks us through the whole process, like Miyazaki likes to do. The music is holding in a dinky loop for Porco, cmon fatty we're waiting! He cranks the engine, looks hard doins, and Miyazaki heroes never shy away from hard doins. There must be something hypnotic to it, watching someone do the little things 'This iiis a tasty burger'
He has car troubles, hes one of us!
There are some random citizens, spectators/commentators to Porco's heroics, the bubble brain girls scream after him, letting us know hes cool.
He saves the day, without killing anyone, and even lets the pirates keep half the money to repair their seaplane.

We have a pretty good sense of the pig at this point.

9mins: we meet the antagonist, american pilot Curtis, all the supporting pirates, the girl Gina, and the american's seaplane.

13mins Gina and Porco talk, she has 3 dead pilot husbands. 'good guys always die' says Porco. This is probably the main theme, the reason he's a pig, is because he didn't die, and hes haunted by it. Gina, Porco, and the three dead husbands are all childhood friends. Gina hints a debate: Porco maybe you should stop flying.




16-20min: Porco doing chorse. Pirates doing chores. Further exstablishing the 'Before' state.


20min: Overcast, uncertain music,
22-24min: Curtis spots a handicapped porco and shoots him down
The catalyst is two things that are one thing, Porco's broken plane. Mechanical failures meant Porco was leaving to get a repair job, and total mechanical failure thanks to Curtis, a disaster, later results in Porco having a far better plane.

25min: Point of no return. Here Gina more clearly asserts the debate: Stop flying, I dont want my last friend dead. Porco says 'A pig who doesn't fly is just an ordinary pig', so hes off to Millan to have his busted up plane fixed. It's a proactive move sure, but what I like the most is how his alternative option, is not an option. Take away his wings, his one redeeming quality, and all you'd have left is pig. That dynamic where huge strength is leveraged on huge weakness is a cool thing.

26min: arrives at Act Two, Milan