Watched on Blu-Ray

Anyone who knows Hayao Miyazaki knows that he is probably the biggest fan of the flight in the realm of animation greats - Howard Hughes certainly went a bit further, but the truly celebrated magic of the topic is reserved for the man from Studio Ghibli. Again, he implements it superficially, even if this time he does it within the framework of a classic fantasy adventure. Dynamic and airy freshness dominate the Mediterranean scenario from the very beginning, which is grounded in reality to a certain extent and addresses true, historical events, but plays around them in a frank and fantastic way.

In the Adriatic of the twenties, the veteran Marco, commonly known as "Porco Rosso", earns his money as a righteous contract bounty hunter in constant fight/competition with the local air pirates. The trick of the matter: He is literally a humanoid pig, based on a curse, the origin of which is suggested in that Marco has simply chosen to do so in the course of his life - he is also a serene and withdrawn loner, who remains hardened and modest after he lost his best friend in a battle in World War I and, out of a sense of honour, renounced his theoretical happiness with the widowed beauty and innkeeper Gina, who has been waiting for him ever since. He also belongs to a bygone era and lives hidden between massive island rocks, but the fame of being a pilot is still very much alive in his environment, especially for children and those who enjoy the conscientious defence of themselves. The pirates are just as tolerably seen as a terrible danger, but rather as expected, droll antagonists for the designated hero - an image that doesn't exactly suit them, but which Miyazaki also treats as warmly as the escapist cartoon tradition (which he recreates empathetically and cheekily during a visit to Porco's cinema with an adventurous black-and-white cartoon). All together, they always break off acrobatic-turbulent maneuvers from the stack, so that enthusiasm instead of terror fills the sunny mind.

It's a really exciting show for young and old, just as it has been conceived on the cinematic level for ages: the beauty and energy of flying. But then the macho American pilot Curtis comes into play, who not only wants to get at Gina, but also wants to assert his boundless skill in flight, and so he shoots Porco during his flight to Milan for the general overhaul of his flying machine. But our hero is far from dead - lucky! - but now he has to carefully sneak past the Italian fascists with the wreckage, because they don't like it very much if someone doesn't fly around so freely on behalf of their government and army. But how does he say so casually: "I'd rather be a pig than a fascist".

Therefore, the latter are the movie's most basic evil power and lurk like a dark shadow over all the fun, yet never really penetrate dangerously, in the end they are just seen as a plaguing circumstance. A direct, decisive confrontation à la Indiana Jones wouldn't have been wrong, but Miyazaki doesn't want to change world history or win ideologically. His protagonist is much too peculiar for that and is also only unconsciously heroic enough to get involved - one could rather trust Curtis with that. But the melancholy of death and loss also remains an influential factor in Porco's work - not overwhelming, but nonetheless solidified. He bases this mainly on a bittersweet vision of the sky he received in an air battle, in which he saw a stream of planes of shot down friends and enemies. On the one hand, this is a conciliatory and honourable picture that Miyazaki paints once again for the eternal nature of the flying people, on the other hand, this infinitely ghostly, flowing memory harbours an undeniable tragedy. In any case, it is one of the most haunting sequences of the movie. But before it falls into self-pity, the enthusiasm in Porco's life reappears in the form of the seventeen-year-old, cheerful granddaughter of his well-known engineer Piccolo, Fio, who wants to accompany him as a mechanic for his care-deprived plane (in addition, he still has to pay off debts for repairs since his contract to defend the Adriatic Sea has expired). The whole Piccolo family is helping him out anyway, as well as the new engine with the distinctive Ghibli brand on top - Miyazaki and Co. once again the motivators par excellence.

With Fio, at any rate, whom Porco, after catchy scepticism, acknowledges more and more amicably over the years, he then makes it back to the Adriatic. But the pirates and Curtis still don't let up, so a last big duel is scheduled. If Porco wins, he will be rewarded with money and honour; if Curtis wins, he will be allowed to ask for Fio's hand, because if he can't win Gina, then at least she can. Curtis is a conqueror - someone who can fall in love quickly and thus pushes for the happiness that is his right. But Porco always has the upper hand, pausing to enjoy the love of his environment without enjoying it - it's not in his nature, because he has decided to be a pig. So in the well-versed aerial and fistfight with his rival, he stays out of defiance of the superior, but he doesn't want to celebrate or really collect the price for it, because on the one hand you have to leave quickly, because the fascists are on his heels again, and on the other hand he sends Fio and also Gina away to safety. Whether he will finally follow the call of his eternal love is not disclosed, also seems quite uncertain - what remains, however, is the recognition of his personality for many following years and the memory of all the exciting adventures mastered together, even with Curtis.

Miyazaki's "Porco Rosso" is a modest hero - but one whose charm you can't escape and who can also play his passing skills almost effortlessly, who simply lives the adventurous and is his own master. The film around him is just as euphoric and inviting; the actual heart of the matter, however, remains a bit distant, because unagitated. But idols always remain a bit mysterious and unwieldy, a worthy monument can still be built to them. And as long as the magic of flight and the fantasy of animation is at stake, Miyazaki can receive this honour.