We look back at anti-war masterpiece Porco Rosso as it turns 30.

I’d Rather Be a Pig Than a Fascist

Porco Rosso, Hayao Miyazaki’s enchanting adventure film about a First World War fighter pilot who helps battle fascists in Italy, even though he’s transformed into a pig-man, turns 30. We look back at this anti-war masterpiece

Words: Zoe Crombie

At a glance, Hayao Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso seems like something of an outlier in Ghibli’s filmography. The fantastical worlds removed from our own time and space are replaced here by the decidedly fixed-point of 1930s Mussolini-era Italy. The story is one of Miyazaki’s own original creations as well, being based on his 1989 manga The Age of the Flying Boat rather than on an existing tale or mythology by another storyteller. Most significantly, rather than starring a determined young woman, our eponymous protagonist is a gruff, sometimes morally ambiguous pig-man who smokes, drinks, and enters the fray with a level of reluctance. Looking at the differences between this black sheep in the Miyazaki canon and his more popular works, one message becomes clear; this isn’t a film that emphasises action over passivity, and isn’t one that’s willing to pander to its audience. In some senses, it feels as though Fio Piccolo, the young woman who helps fix Porco’s plane and insistently joins him on his adventures, is the more conventional hero of the film. She’s upbeat, compassionate, clever; a Ghibli girl through and through. Though this might have made the film a more overtly feminist text, it would have come at the cost of ignoring much of the discomfort and darkness that Miyazaki plays with beneath the sunny Mediterranean exterior. Fio is someone to aspire to, while Porco might be closer to who you really are, torn between your own personal comfort and the moral duty you find yourself burdened with when you become aware of any kind of injustice. This hits harder because of the invisibility of the fascists. They aren’t moustache-twirling buffoons like the bumbling pirates or hotshot American Curtis, who are ultimately (like so many other Miyazaki ‘villains’) just flawed, selfish individuals. Instead, they lurk as an ever-present background threat without a single face, the war machine itself rather than any of the individual people driving it. Porco Rosso entered production as a simple in-flight film for Japan Airlines, but when Miyazaki and his team heard stories from the war in Yugoslavia, it evolved into something more complex – they couldn’t just depict the flights and fights of the film without acknowledging what drove them. And what of the pilots? Miyazaki would discuss the clash between his love of planes and hatred of aerial war more explicitly in The Wind Rises, but this tension is still ever-present in Porco; underneath all the fun lurks the fact that many of the planes exist to end lives. The dogfights between Porco and his many enemies make for some great animated spectacles, but the film doesn’t hesitate to remind you – despite the miraculous survival of the central characters through it all – that these characters are just as capable as Mussolini’s soldiers of turning their skill to the slaughter of innocent people if they were convinced effectively enough. That is why Porco’s defiant, explicit refusal to engage with fascism, summarised by his nowiconic line, “I’d rather be a pig than a fascist”, is so important; you have to make a conscious effort not to let these systems swallow up those around you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the gallant Hollywood hero that Curtis strives to be or an outcasted criminal kidnapping little girls for a ransom pay-out – you have a responsibility to fight against state-sanctioned injustice if you’re capable. Leaning back on being a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ person while avoiding true conflict isn’t going to cut it. This is perhaps best communicated in the narrative by the nature of Porco’s curse itself. You may assume that the curse came about due to greed or hedonism, a la Pigsy from the legendary Chinese classic Journey to the West. Instead, the cause is much vaguer – all we see is that his best friend was killed in a dogfight, and that he has taken a half-man, half-animal form ever since. More explicitly, a press release revealed that Porco became ‘disillusioned with humanity’ after this incident, leading to his transformation – a far cry from a God or witch smiting him with their moral judgement. By the close of the film, Porco has regained his human form, and in the grand tradition of The Wizard of Oz, it seems as though the power was with him all along. All he needed was the push to believe in humanity once again, and to find a reason to fight; his reversion to a human form doesn’t signal a return to the status quo, but a drive to improve it. Porco Rosso isn’t about breaking the curse – it’s about finding the will to fight against a cursed world.

Say it Loud

Figures of Speech is a new cross-artform series of live events that will bring together writers and artists to take us on a road trip through Scottish literature. We look ahead to what’s in store

Words: Jamie Dunn

Photo: Colin Hattersley

With 2022 being hailed as Scotland’s Year of Stories, it’s the perfect opportunity to dive into our nation’s most iconic books, as well as explore the dazzling array of new Scottish voices on the horizon. New literary series Figures of Speech promises to do both. It’s a programme of literary events taking audiences on an odyssey across the curious contrasts and contradictions that define Scottish literature, aiming to offer a fresh look at Scottish classics new and old. Figures of Speech takes the form of six live, in-person nights of discussion featuring expert guides who will be covering six universal themes – Music, Friendship, Future, Love, Place, and Big Ideas – in relation to Scottish literature. Each event sees two writers paired together to offer their takes on one of the above themes. In addition to these six events featuring 12 writers, Figures of Speech will also be supported by eight newly commissioned pieces of work from contemporary artists inspired by the themes. These new works will offer creative interpretations and reimaginings of some of Scotland’s most well-known and well-loved stories. The first event, held on Friday 20 May, centred on the music theme. Two razor-sharp music writers were assembled for a talk: journalist and broadcaster Nicola Meighan and music critic Arusa Qureshi, who recently published Flip the Script – a book about women in UK hip-hop. The pair’s conversation explored what characterises and defines Scottish writing when music and words come together. Details of the upcoming Figures of Speech events are below

Friendship: Michael Pedersen & Val McDermid

Friendship is the topic of discussion during this tour through Scottish literature with celebrated crime author Val McDermid and poet and Neu! Reekie! host Michael Pedersen. Be it Peter Pan and Wendy from JM Barrie’s childhood classic or Renton and his gang of ne’er-do-well pals in Trainspotting, passionate and problematic friendships can be found throughout the history of Scottish literature. This should be a fascinating chat.

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. 24 Jun, 7.30pm

Future: Russell Jones & T.L. Huchu

The final event in the first season of Figure of Speech takes audiences to the future. Poet Russell Jones and author T.L. Huchu will be exploring how Scottish writing on the future has exemplified both the hopeful optimism and wry pessimism of our nation. They’ll be delving into utopias, dystopias and heterotopias from some of Scotland’s most loved sci-fi stories, from Iain M. Banks’ the Culture series to Josie Giles’s Deep Wheel Orcadia.

Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. 22 Jul, 7.30pm

Figures of Speech: Season Two

Another trio of Figures of Speech events are coming up later in the year covering three more universal topics. Gaelic poet Peter Mackay and romance writer Jenny Colgan will be talking Love on 23 September, while visual artist and writer Amanda Thomson will be discussing the importance of Place in Scottish literature with poet and filmmaker Roseanne Watt on 21 October. The season comes to a close on 30 November with a discussion of Big Ideas in relation to Scotland with professor David Farrier sitting down with climate activist and author Jessica Gaitán Johannesson.

Tickets for the second season of Figures of Speech will go on sale later in the year