The Disaster Artist



The Room has gone through several transformations in the 14 years since its unfortunate release in 2003. From flat out rejection due to its sheer incompetence, the film quickly found a second life on the midnight circuit as a cult curio, which attracted more and more fans into its bizarre world. Fans delighted in its awful script, dreadful acting, and inept filmmaking. The story of Tommy, Mark and Lisa stuck in a clichéd love triangle really connects with fans because of how unintentionally funny it is. Fans revel in the bizarre choices, such as the framing pictures of spoons for back ground decoration, the plot inconsistencies and the truly awful delivery of the strange script. But it's also a window in the strange pschye of one man - Tommy Wiseau.

Stories began to leak out about the disastrous production, with Wiseau often at the centre of it all. With broken English and a seemingly endless supply of money, Wiseau tried to make a film to match the passion of Tennesse Williams (or so the posters claimed). It wasn't long before other actors came forward with their "confessionals" of the making the film, the most famous of which is Mark actor Greg Sestro's memoirs The Disaster Artist. The novel is a very funny and engaging read. It reveals how Sestro and Wiseau were good friends, trying to make it together in Hollywood. However, Wiseau's incredibly eccentric personality (and that's putting it mildly) and focus to make his passion project The Room invariably drove the two apart. The story had, ironically, the makings of a Hollywood film ... which has, at long last, arrived

Greg (Dave Franco) is a struggling 19-year old actor living in San Francisco. He suffers from crippling shyness which is getting in the way of his acting ambitions. Everything changes though when he meets the bizarre Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) in an acting class. Tommy is incredibly eccentric, confident and something of a dark enigma. The two begin to form a strange friendship based on a mutual interest in each other - Greg wants to try and tap into Tommy's unbound confidence, while Tommy is jealous of Greg's youthful looks. More and more questions begin to pile up as Greg gets to know Tommy more. Where does his seemingly endless supply of money come from? In fact, where does he even come from? And just how old is he? The duo decide to move to L.A. to try and make it big, however after several failures and Tommy's increasingly strange behaviour, things don't seem to be moving fast for the two friends. Until, Tommy has the 'brilliant' idea to just write, produce and direct their own film for them to star in. Fairly quickly, Greg finds himself on the set of what is destined to be one of the most beloved so-bad-it's-good films of all time...

The Disaster Artist re-creates in loving detail the process of making The Room

At the centre of this whirl-wind of madness is James Franco as Tommy Wiseau, clearly the highlight of the film. Most of the time, I'm not fan of Franco but here the role is just perfectly suited to his biggest strengths. You get the impression that Franco basically wanted to make this film so he could play Tommy. Everything from the Eastern European accent to the greasy long black hair to the vacant expression are all here and accounted for. I do think Franco manages to move the role past from being a straight caricature into a real character. Ultimately, Tommy's lack of self-awareness becomes his greatest curse. He is fearless when performing in the middle of a crowded diner but doesn't know how to interact with a Hollywood producer, in a particularly awkward scene in a fancy restaurant. His increasingly agitated diva persona blows up on the set of The Room, leading to one very awkward scene in which he struts around naked on set whilst filming the already very awkward sex scene. I wish the same attention to detail could have extended to Dave Franco's performance as Greg Sestro. He's likeable enough in the role but he is a far cry from the voice readers enjoyed in the novel. While I was sold on James as Tommy, Dave never quite did the same with Greg, at least not for me. The book communicates that the pair shared a complex relationship which the film boils down to more simplistic terms. I don't find it completely distracting but the book really builds up well to the two falling out - in the film it just kind of happens...

Tommy and Greg form a friendship based on mutual interests

Like Wiseau, Franco also directs. The style of the film goes for a faux-documentary style, which is serviceable for the material. To its credit though, the film is not mean spirited - Franco has a clear love for the source material. I think it's fair to draw comparisons between The Disaster Artist and Tim Burton's masterpiece, Ed Wood - a biopic about the life and times of a similarly terrible filmmaker. I actually re-watched Ed Wood recently and found it utterly absorbing. Ed Wood succeeds because of how romanticised the whole thing is and the gorgeous black-and-white cinematography helps to back up this conceit. The Disaster Artist lacks any kind of real style, which I think is harmful to the film overall. Maybe, like Wiseau, Franco was just too absorbed in his performance ..

The real treat of the film though are the recreations of the filming of The Room, which is the meat of the running time This is also the film at its funniest. Every actor cast to fill the roles of Lisa, Denny, Claudette and Peter are pitch perfect. As Tommy squanders millions of dollars on his passion project, the actors and crew become increasingly angry at the he treats everyone, his un-professional approach to filmmaking and complete lack of experience of working a set. Every scene you know and love is here, as pretty much everyone questions the logical behind the script and Wiseau's awful directing decisions. As a side-character, Seth Rogan is great as the hapless script supervisor, who basically ends up directing the film and acts as the voice of reason. I love the increasing realisation that Greg has been drawn into a nightmare as he has to defend more and more of Tommy's eccentric behaviour, almost like a cheerleader. However, Tommy is just stuck into making his "all-American movie".

Now, as a fan of The Room this is exactly what I want to see. However, I do wonder how The Disaster Artist would play to someone who has not seen The Room. Unlike Ed Wood, which could be enjoyed with no knowledge of the director, I do think some prior knowledge is required with The Room. Otherwise, it's hard to know exactly what things are building up to and lacks the catalyst that Ed Wood had.

Despite some gripes, The Disaster Artist is a very entertaining watch that pretty much meets the expectations of all fans of The Room. I would have liked to seen more of the morally grey material from the novel but, as a cinematic representation of how The Room was made, The Disaster Artist ticks nearly all the boxes. James Franco is great in the lead, putting his often mis-spent creative energy into a role that perfectly suits him. While there are certain details that are either missed or could have been expanded on, The Disaster Artist still weaves a feel-good spell that will not doubt make more people aware of the continuing saga of Tommy Wiseau.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Nine - Ocean Waves

I think the early 90s were an odd time for Studio Ghibli. With Miyazaki in semi-hiatus, while he prepared his magnum opus, and Takahata pursuing a project that was maybe slightly below him (which explored in the next article), it was time to start thinking legacy. At this point, the producers knew they had a very special film company with some of the greatest filmmakers of all time making stunning works that were rich and subtle yet with enough broad appeal to reach a wide audience. So the question became what was going to happen when these filmmakers either moved on, retired or .. passed away? Arguably, this was and still is Studio Ghibli's biggest problem - how do you replace Miyazaki and Takahata? And this isn't a question that has been hovering in recent years - this goes right back to the early 90s. This question has never really been answered and is why the studio is now all but closed (save on final Miyazaki film). There were two concerted elements in the early 1990s that actually share some common themes - Whisper of the Heart and Ocean Waves. Both films were from new directors to the studio, so both projects were big risks, and wanted to tell contemporary stories. One turned out to be a minor masterpiece and the other remained an under-welcoming oddity for years...we're looking at the latter...

On my epic binge of Studio Ghibli's back catalogue, I wasn't too enthused about re-watching Ocean Waves. There's certainly worse Ghibli films (not many though) but this one is arguably the studio at its most ... middle of the road (well maybe except for the next one). In all honesty, it's hard to get too angry at the film since it came from a genuinely sincere place. The young staff of Ghibli were given a chance to make their own film and wanted to make something contemporary- something that spoke to them. From the perspective of the heads of the studio, this was a challenge given to the young staff to produce a film quickly, cheaply and efficintly whilst maintaining a high standard of quality. This, ironically, led the film to go over budget and over schedule. Ghibli hired young filmmaker Tomomi Mochizuki to helm the project. This would be the first time Ghibli film not directed by Miyazaki or Takahata, so I imagine the pressure was on for young Mochizuki. The film was based on a novel by Saeko Himuro, which was serialized in the Ghibli-affiliated magazine Animage. The serial was complete with illustrations by Katsuya Kondo, who also served as the film's characters designer and animation director. This was also going to Ghibli's first, and currently only, feature-length TV film - the film never screened in cinemas which might explain its obscurity in the West.

Our two protagonists (l:r) Taku and Rikako

The film is set in the small town of Kochi on the Japanese island of Shikoku (off the main island of Honshu). The film follows two friends, Taku and Yutaka, in high school, who seem to have an unbreakable bond. That is until a mysterious transfer student named Rikako enters their lives. Rikako is hot-headed, rude, stand-offish, intelligent, beautiful and attracts the eyes of all the boys in school, much to the ire of the girls. And of course Taku and Yutaka fall for her which ends up splitting them apart. Whilst on a school trip to Hawaii, Rikako asks to borrow some money from Taku as she "lost her own". As it turns out, she's actually saving up for a trip to fly back out to Tokyo to see her estranged father (Rikako's parents have split up and she lives with her mother in their new home in Kochi). Taku, through a series of circumstances, eventually gets pulled into Rikako's mad trip to Tokyo, as he begins to learn to grow up into an adult. 

Ocean Waves, for me, is a little bit of a dud. This is definitely the work of a group of young filmmakers, so it's kind of hard to completely hate on it, but it suffers from an unfocused script, under-written characters and a slightly sexist under-layer. The animation is great for a TV special, though maybe slightly under the quality of a standard Ghibli film (understandable though). The background art though is gorgeous. Ghibli had not rendered never rendered modern-day Japan before and in such realistic detail. The animator's experiences of growing up the country and moving to a metropolitan city really shines through. Miyazaki himself said truly great animation can only be achieved by drawing upon experience, which is evident in the design of Ocean Waves. However, outside of the technical elements, I can't really find much to recommend about Ocean Waves. Slice-of-life stories are fine, of course, but Ocean Waves' biggest problem is its unfocused script which veers from sentimental to kind of mean. It passes by 70 minutes but the pace is fairly slow and the construction of the scenes are uninteresting. This makes it feel like a much longer film than it actually is. There's plenty of scenes that could have worked with a better structure - all the students coming back to Kochi as adults and going out for drinks as part of their school reunion is a cute sequence. The problem is that all of a sudden they are transplanted with newly found personalities and secret crushes that don't even come up in the first part of the film. As a protagonist, Taku is also fairly flat. There could have been a charming personality in there - a young man in way over his head - but there's just not a lot there to latch onto. Things start out promisingly enough, with the film exploring the friendship between Taku and Yutaka. We learn how they both protested to the school cancelling the trip but go about it in different ways - a clever way of indicating that these two are very similar but quite different to each other. However, the film seems to forget about these earlier scenes and shifts focus to Taku and Rikako hanging out together; then we're dealing with Rikako's family problems before skipping forward a few years to the old friends reconciling with each other again. There's little rhythm to get to know these people as characters and it severely hurts the film. 

There is some gorgeous art design in the film but the script is unfocused

Mostly because I don't have a lot to say about the film at a whole, I want to use this opportunity to explore some feminist critique of character tropes that cropped up while I was watching the film. I think my big issue with the film is the way the central character of Rikako is written. She is moody and angry towards the world, shunning all those around and changing her emotions on a whim but this is all really just a mask to hide her inner pain. However, I think there is something vaguely insidious to this that reinforces incredibly negative stereotypes of women that the film tries to sweep under the rug at the end. The plot of the film is essentially Taku, the dominant male character, trying to untangle the central mystery of who this complex girl is and failing - only to get her as prize at the end anyway.

TV Tropes files Rikako under the Alpha Bitch type - a category shared by characters such as Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls, Regina from Mean Girls and Cordelia Chase from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. While these are great examples of characters where the writers undermine the trope, they start out as representative of the Alpha Bitch trope. She is usually at the centre of attention at high school, leader of her clique, generally a rich Daddy's girl (where the family usually have some kind of massive influence), probably a cheerleader and generally acts awful to everyone around her, complete with a group of mindless friends who follow her around everywhere. Rikako certainly displays elements of this trope but it doesn't quite fill the whole picture. In fact, elements of this trope are arguably combined with another in the film - the Broken Bird. These character usually have some kind of "cynicism catalyst' i.e. something bad that happened in her past that destroyed her faith in just about everything. Lapis Lazuli from Steven Universe and Jessica Jones from her self-titled series are both examples of this trope done right - both suffer from a form of PTSD and are slowly beginning to overcome it in their own way. This trope is massively popular in anime and manga (the list is endless on the TV Topes site). Every major series you can think of has a female character that displays this trope - Evangelion, One Piece, Naruto, the list goes on. TV Tropes defines this archetype further as seemingly being emotionally experienced and her detachment gives the impression of competency but she often can't live up to this hype - which is an important aspect of Rikako's character. She's great at sport, is book smart, beautiful and stands out but struggles emotionally to connect. Basically, the film is trying to say that Rikako is "different from other girls".

Whilst Ghibli has a great reputation for writing great females characters, something when seriously wrong in the fleshing out of Rikako - a character who ends up drawing upon several tropes that are utilised to create a shallow and ultimately unengaging character 



Rikako has a mixture of both the tropes I have discussed in the way she is written. Certainly, Rikako displays elements of the Alpha Bitch - the entitlement, the disdain for everyone around here, seemingly being good at everything and all the boys wanting her however she's not exactly popular with other girls, which is crucial to the Alpha Bitch type. Truly memorable characters who fall into this trope work to overcome their issues as part of their character development. Cordelia and Pacifica break the mould of the Alpha Bitch type to become active members of their respective groups. They overcome how the world sees them to reveal intelligent and independent women, making up for her past "bitchiness" whilst not undermining who they are (until Angel ruined it all for Cordelia ... but that's another discussion for another time). Rikako in no way redeems herself from her actions in the film. She essentially steals money from two people, lies to a friend about the trip they are going on and essentially kidnaps her (Rikako convinces a friend to go away together for a couple of days though this is just a pretense to go on a last minute trip to Tokyo to see her dad) and intentionally antagonises all those around her. Then, after a particularly heated argument with Taku, she slips away and reappears right at the end of the world as a mature adult - not terribly inspiring. Then there's the Broken Bird side. She has a cynicism catalyst in that her parent's have split up and she's had to move from Tokyo. She is angry towards the world and stand-offish with everyone but is using it as a front to hide her inner turmoil. Lapis suffers from a traumatic past that helped to shape her outlook on the world and the universe however, after nearly flooding Earth, she is working on improving herself, but doesn't always succeed. Jessica Jones turns surviving her metaphorical rape into a crusade to ensure no woman suffers again at the hands of Kilgrave. What I want to make clear is that these characters start off in a certain depressed place that shape their world view but go on an arc to get work through the problem in their past. Rikako doesn't go on any kind of arc. She starts the film in one place, storms out of the characters' lives and re-appears years later as a mature woman - leaving her development up to the mind of the viewer. By robbing her of a character arc, the film ends up drawing upon two tropes that require some kind of development but just leaves the character as shallow and unengaging. Ultimately, Rikako is puzzle that the male character Taku must unravel, robbing her of any agency in what is essentially her own story and reinforces negative stereotypes about women being unreasonable, manipulative and difficult to deal with.

So there you have it - Ocean Waves. It's an interesting experiment that tried to show off what the young staff could do. Normally, I would be an apologist for this kind of creative springboard. It's great that the studio gave a chance to show the old guard what youthful talent could do and this really could the staff's time to shine. Instead, Ocean Waves aims low and doesn't sustain the landing. If you have to see every Ghibli film, Ocean Waves is certainly not terrible or anything. It's just very middle of the road with loads of untapped potential that passes by an inoffensive 70 minutes (unless you're a feminist, like me). However, then you stop and think that this is Studio Ghibli. Not all their films need to be like Miyazaki's, of course, but there needs to be something. A spark of creativity. There's no shame in producing a smaller scale story. Heck, in comparison to the works of Miyazaki and Takahata, a delicate, well-crafted coming of age tale set in modern-day Japan with a cute romance at the centre could have made for a unique, smart, subtle, moving and charming film that represented a change of pace for the studio... oh, wait...they made that one ... it's called Whisper of the Heart. That one is a couple of articles away though - basically, it's Ocean Waves done right ... Anyway - final thoughts on Ocean Waves. If you have to see it, then it's fine but there's a dozen or so better Ghibli films you could be watching instead. 

With Ghibli's new mission to find a way to continue the legacy of Miyazaki and Takahata seemingly limping out of the gate, it would be a case of returning back to the tried-and-tested formula of the old masters. Takahata's new project was finally on the horizon and hopes were high it could match the immense quality of Only Yesterday and Grave of the Fireflies...more on that next time...

No comments on an English dub this time since one is not available in the UK.

Studio Ghibli: A Retrospective, Part Eight - Porco Rosso

Here's an odd one. Often viewed as the black sheep (or pig, in this case) of Hayao Miyazaki's venerable filmography, Porco Rosso is, to some degree, the purest realisation of several of director's key thematic concerns. While it is easy to write the film off as the outcast of Miyazaki's filmography, Porco Rosso actually contains some of his purest statement of intents than any of his other projects. It also offers a rare glimpse of politics being directly explored in the narrative (i.e. not through metaphor) of his films. 

Porco Rosso, aka the Crimson Pig, is a bounty hunter working in the Adriatic Sea at the end of the 1920s. As something of a local legend, Porco enjoys nothing more than hunting down seaplane pirates, earning some money, kicking back at his favourite bar owned an old flame, Gina, and drinking wine. In short, he's a bit of a slob. And also happens to be an anthpomeric pig. See, he was a former World War One fighter pilot by the name of Marco Pagot who became disillusioned after the war and was cursed to be a pig. The reason why and how are left ambiguous. In any case, Porco is a very negative kind of guy and pushes away anyone who comes close to him. The only friend he has left from the "old days" is Gina. The two clearly share a complex relationship. Porco's world is thrown into slight chaos when the seaplane pirates, sick of Porco constantly thwarting their plans, hire hot-shot American pilot Curtis to take him down. After successfully shooting the pig down, Porco must make a trip to Milan to have his plane repaired in the hopes of fighting Curtis again and regaining his 'honour'.

Porco Rosso is an excellent character study backed by fantastical world that is also socio-historical literate 

The project had a peculiar genesis. One of Miyazaki's more under-appreciated side projects are his manga series. His Nausicaa manga is, of course, a masterpiece but there are several others he produced over the years. One in particular was a short three chapter series named Hikōtei Jidai or The Age of the Flying Boat. I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, as it's a pretty well known fact and now seems as good a time as any to discuss this, but Miyazaki has a real love for flying, planes and pretty much any form of aviation.  Every single one of his films has at least one flying sequence (except Princess Mononoke) and two of them are fairly full-on explorations of this passion - The Wind Rises (which we'll get to a long way down the track) and Porco Rosso. The preceding manga version of the story is a lot simpler and lighter in tone - many of the characters are not in it, Porco is a much more light-hearted guy and the political nature of the story is toned back. The manga is an absolute work of art. Making use of a watercolour scheme and highly detailed and exaggerated takes on early 20th century planes, this was a clear labour of love for Miyazaki. Naturally, Miyazaki imagined the potential of this story in animation. He even admitted at the time of the final chapter being published that he could only push the dog-fight finale so far in comic book form and wanted to better communicate the motions of the planes through animation. A film offer though came from a very odd place. Japan Airlines wanted Miyazaki to produce a short film based on the series to be shown as part of their in-flight entertainment. Miyazaki began in earnest developing the story but it soon grew into a feature length film. Japan Airlines remained a major investor and still showed the film long before its theatrical release on is long haul flights. For those wondering why the film opens with a text scroll in a dozen or so different languages briefly summarising the story - this was a requirement for Japan Airlines to show it on its international flights!

The manga is a gorgeous work of art in its own right, showing off Miyazaki's richly detailed plane designs, vibrant colour scheme and unrivalled sense of motion

I think what makes Porco Rosso odder than any other Ghibli film is that the setting is clearly defined, both geographically and historically. In terms of locations, Porco visits Milan to have his plane repaired, hangs out at various islands in the Adriatic Sea and has his hidden island, which he calls home, off the coast of the Croatian coastline. The historical context is also made clear. Porco was once an Italian fighter pilot hero in World War One. He also looks at the rise of fascism in Italy in the 1930s with utter disgust. "I'd rather be a pig than a facist", he snidely exclaims to a former colleague turned tool for the Facist Italian government (though he still helps Porco out from time to time under cover). Outside of this, the film is very much in the realms of fantasy. Despite its historical overtones, I would still class the film on part of the artistic concept we have discussed previously of "France of our dreams", which I want to extend even further to "Europe of our dreams', which reaches its natural conclusion with Howl's Moving Castle. 

The opening of the film deftly sets an exciting and upbeat tone with Porco rescuing a gaggle of school children from a group of seaplane pirates called the Mamma Auito gang. The opening is actually something of a misnomer for the rest of the film. It's gag-riddled and has a high energy that makes for an incredibly absorbing opening 10 minutes. The film is very efficient - there's no filler and tries to communicate its points neatly and effectively. The opening shows this and it's not long before we are pulled into Porco hanging out of Gina's bar, where the two share an intimate conversation. Gina imparts that her pilot husband has died in a plane crash. She has actually had a couple of other husbands before him, including one of Porco's old war buddies, and has become emotionally withdrawn. Gina is probably my favourite character in the film outside of Porco. She fells like a character who has stepped out of Casablanca - sophisticated, quick to take action, secretly undermining the ruling authority and deeply romantic. Her introduction to the film couldn't be more classic Hollywood, as she sings the beautiful Le temps des Cerises in the bar. 

The opening 10 minutes is action packed and gag riddled

Gina's introduction in the film

Porco's world is thrown into chaos when the hot-shot American pilot Curtis, hired by the seaplane pirates, shoots down his plane. Curtis is a fun character. Hoping to make it big and make the American dream, Curtis one day wants to conquer Hollywood. My favourite scene of his is where he tries to explain to Gina his dreams of becoming an actor, in all his goofy naivety. Gina just bursts out laughing and basically explains that life is more complex than a Hollywood film. Following Porco's defeat, the pig must make his way to Milan in Italy to consult with his old friend Piccolo to assist in the repairing of his plane. This isn't going to come cheap and, much to Porco's surprise, the chief designer will be Piccolo's grand-daughter - the young and very enthusiastic Fio. Fio is an absolute delight of a character and an archetypal Miyazaki heroine. Part of Fio's journey in the film is overcoming the inherent sexism in society and Porco's own narrow-minded views. This whole sequence is excellent - from the initial design phase of Porco's new plane, his surprise that an all female crew will be building it, to his eventual escape from Milan when the fascist police discover he is hiding out in the town. This whole sequence shows off the incredible attention to detail in regards to the plane designs. The motion as well is stunning. This is probably some of the best animated flying sequences I have ever seen in a film mostly because it so effectively communicates the sense of weight and speed that only a true lover of planes can present (while also graced with unmatched animation skill).

Curtis is a loveable antagonist (in the loosest sense of the term) 

Fio is a spirited, well-rounded character trying to overcome the inherent sexism of the early 20th century

I think now is an important time to discuss the socio-historical context this film was made in. Yes, we're going there. The film went into production during the outbreak of the Yugoslavia War of the 1990s, an incredibly violent and chaotic period for the region. Miyazaki originally intended the film to be set in the film in the former Yugoslavia, more specially the area now known as Croatia. However, he decided to re-adjust the plot following the outbreak of war and genocide. With the Baltic nations in disarray, Porco Rosso looked back to a simpler time for the coastal regions of these countries that formed the Adriatic Sea. The film itself shies away from the complex history of the genesis of the Yugoslavian conflict (which can be traced back to the 1920s) and rather looks to Italy and the rise of Mussolini to back Porco's exploits against. Italy's wide spread economic and social problems are brought up several times. Jobs are scarce, so all the men in Piccolo's village have left, leaving the women to repair Porco's plane (much to his surprise). Fio can't believe how much fuel is due to the sky-high inflation rate. Money is simply not worth the paper it is printed on. There is this sense of a pervading twilight to the story as well; that worst things are on the horizon. While it is largely a high-energy action comedy, there is this inescapable sense of sadness surrounding it. Whilst re-fuelling his plane, Porco learns from a patron that the Italian government is now hiring seaplane pirates for their own use, essentially putting bounty hunters such as Porco out of business. His battle with Curtis suddenly has this end of an era vibe. 

Porco Rosso deals in part with the rise of facism in Italy during the late 1920s and has very vague echoes of the (then) contemporary conflict in the former Yugoslavia

The heart of the film really begins to come out when the focus shifts to Porco and Fio's growing friendship. See, she insists on coming along to help ensure that her masterpiece is kept in safe hands with Porco and also probably for a bit of adventure and excitement. The pair eventually make it back to Porco's island but find it surrounded by the seaplane pirates. After they agree a date for the pig to have a final encounter with Curtis, Porco and Fio spend the evening preparing. Porco tells Fio a chilling story about an encounter he had during World War One (back when he was a man). Following a dog fight and the deaths of several of his friends, Porco essentially blacks out and wakes up transcending into the sky in his plane. Up above him are hundreds of other planes, flying to the very upper echelons of the sky, symbolic of them passing into the next life. These pilots are making their final flight. Porco also sees one of his friends rising up and calls out to him, only to go unheard. It's a hauntingly beautiful moment and is probably the highlight of the film. This little aside actually bares strong resemblance to the Roald Dahl short story They Shall Not Grow Old. Miyazaki is a note fan of Dahl's adult fiction, so it makes sense he draws influence from the author's tales as a pilot in World War Two. 

Pilots ascend into the sky to make their final journey in the film's best scene

So in this vein and keeping the above points in mind, I'm going to discuss the most common question brought up with this film - why is Porco a pig? All we are told is that some kind of curse was placed upon him. I know some people have issues that the exact how's and why's are never explained but for me the ambiguity works. It's quite easy to draw your own conclusions on why. Miyazaki has explained in a bit more detail in subsequent interviews about the film why he is a pig but I think all this can be drawn from the film. The only thing we can't draw is the how though Miyazaki says the curse is self-inflicted. Following World War One and losing several of his friends, Porco became withdrawn and bitter towards the world. He shuns anyone who gets close to him and generally acts slobbish. The only photo that remains of him as a human is in Gina's bar though his face is scribbled out. I would even describe his actions, and subsequent challenge to Curtis, as a form of toxic masculinity. He wants to regain his honour by proving he is the toughest and the best pilot of the Adriatic. Thus, his appearance as a pig. Miyazaki once said that all middle-aged men are pigs, which I think is a line used in the dub (might be misremembering) which, while a harsh view point, goes someway to explaining that his appearance as a pig is related to his current emotional place in the world. Only through his encounters with Fio is he able to break through his emotional barrier and form a meaningful relationship. Fio is literally able to see him as a man, as in the evening camping scene she captures a brief glimpse of Porco in human form. 

All this builds to an exciting conclusion in which Porco and Curtis finally battle it out both on air and land. It's a brilliant sequence and a return to the high energy seen in the opening of the film. In the end it turns into a literally punchout, complete with comically over-the-top bruises and swelling.  So at the end of the film, Porco does win his match with Curtis but it isn't this that ultimately breaks his curse. As Fio leaves, ahead of the Italian army coming to put a stop to the now illegal meet-up of bounty hunters and seaplane pirates, she plants an innocent kiss on Porco's cheek. Curtis and Porco look on as the Italian army arrive but not before the hot-headed American turns around in shock, demanding to see Porco's face. The conclusion reached here is fairly obvious. Restoring his honour and pride doesn't turn him back into a human - it's the formation of a true meaningful human relationship. So while the film is a high energy action-comedy film, there is something to be said about the emotional arc Porco embarks on and I think it runs deeper on re-watches.

Porco Rosso offers a genuinely affecting tale of a man rediscovering his humanity

The past and how it informs us is a huge aspect of Porco Rosso's subtext



So, overall, I'm very fond of Porco Rosso. It's not one of my favourite Miyazaki films but it does has this strange power that draws you in. At 90 minutes, it's also one of his shortest films but because of that its very efficient in its story telling. I think the main character of Porco is one of Miyazaki's most interesting and flawed protagonists. In fact, the main cast of four characters (Porco, Fio, Gina and Curtis) are all highly memorable and go on their own arcs. From a socio-historical stand point, I think Porco Rosso is a fascinating piece - an abstract portrayal of the rise of fascism in the early 20th century which, while not historically accurate, succeeds in communicating the paranoia, bruised feelings and shifting political stand points of the era. It's light on plot, which I think is its ultimate detriment, but the characters that form this world are big personalities that make up for this. It's a simple story but filled with a huge amount of heart and imagination that makes Porco Rosso an incredibly entertaining watch and offers a genuinely moving main character arc that sits in the viewer's residual memory long after the viewing.

...and this might be one of the rare occasions where I actually prefer the English dub to the original. This has only become apparent while watching it in Japanese this time round. Michael Keaton lends his versatile vocal cords to Porco, managing to play up the conflict inside of the character - he's ultimately a good guy but he's rubbish at communicating this. I think what makes it for me though is Cary Elwes, who provides an over-the-top performance as Curtis - complete a Southern drawl! Elwes really gets the essence of the character - a larger than life figure disguising the fact he is still, emotionally, a child. It's a really fun performance that elevates the character above the original Japanese voice actor. I'm also very fond of Susan Egan as Gina, who is probably more famous now amongst animation fans as the voice of Rose Quartz from Steven Universe and Meg from Hercules. She has a real gift for bringing characters to life who are masking a hidden sadness, so she is perfect as Gina. Her talk with Porco in the bar about her dead husbands suddenly has this new weight which is lacking in the Japanese dub. Rounding off the main cast is Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who brings a real sense of energy and spirit to Fio - probably about on par with the Japanese actor.

Miyazaki would go on a brief hiatus whilst prepping his next film, leaving the studio in a slight pickle. For the first time, Ghibli really began to try and make plans for its future. It would turn to its eager young staff for inspiration....