More about me and a short movie review.
I am kind-hearted and hospitable, cheerful and well-liked. Don't believe me? Well, I have it on the best authority - my fortune cookie from dinner!!
Anyway, in honor of my chicken in hot garlic sauce dinner, I watched a brand new DVD that I have been wanting to watch for a week, a Miyazaki movie called Porco Rosso. It is about a strong, silent, rather grumpy hero who flies seaplanes. He also just happens to be a pig. There are all the requisite Miyazaki staples: incredible flying sequences, a spunky teenage female, a gang of baddies who are not all that evil and so on. It was also fun to find bits and pieces that show up in other Ghibli movies, like the old man at the junk dealers who looks so much like the Kamaji character from Spirited Away and the various pirates who resembled the ones in Laputa. I really liked the whole concept of a world-weary, cynical yet brave hero who "would rather be a pig than a fascist." There were a few loose ends left, maybe for possible sequels as the movie originally meant as inflight entertainment for Japan Airlines.
I have read some online reviews of the movie which were disappointed by the perceived lack of emotional depth in the film compared to other films by Miyazaki-san. To them I blow a cheerful raspberry. I think the movie is all round good fun with a smart and brave yet innocent young girl who designs planes, a bunch of loser pirates who remind me of Asterix comics and a dashing lonely pig who would not be out of place in 'Casablanca'. Go and watch it!
Anyway, in honor of my chicken in hot garlic sauce dinner, I watched a brand new DVD that I have been wanting to watch for a week, a Miyazaki movie called Porco Rosso. It is about a strong, silent, rather grumpy hero who flies seaplanes. He also just happens to be a pig. There are all the requisite Miyazaki staples: incredible flying sequences, a spunky teenage female, a gang of baddies who are not all that evil and so on. It was also fun to find bits and pieces that show up in other Ghibli movies, like the old man at the junk dealers who looks so much like the Kamaji character from Spirited Away and the various pirates who resembled the ones in Laputa. I really liked the whole concept of a world-weary, cynical yet brave hero who "would rather be a pig than a fascist." There were a few loose ends left, maybe for possible sequels as the movie originally meant as inflight entertainment for Japan Airlines.
I have read some online reviews of the movie which were disappointed by the perceived lack of emotional depth in the film compared to other films by Miyazaki-san. To them I blow a cheerful raspberry. I think the movie is all round good fun with a smart and brave yet innocent young girl who designs planes, a bunch of loser pirates who remind me of Asterix comics and a dashing lonely pig who would not be out of place in 'Casablanca'. Go and watch it!
6 Comments:
There was a time when I had no respect for Japanese anime, and then under the strangest circumstances, I saw Princess Mononoke in someone's home. I thought it was beautifully made, and I think your post is such a delightful description of Miyazaki's filmmaking. It really really made me want to see this film. Flying pigs indeed!
Thanks, I love Miyazaki's movies. This is one of his more lighthearted ones, like the Lupin movie. If you want to watch a really good non-Miyazaki movie just incidentally in anime - watch Graveyard of the Fireflies.
Don't you know that a fortune cookie message must be read out loud with the words "in bed" added at the end?
Anyway, I significantly prefer American comics to Japanese ones. Frank Miller's Sin City coming out this week - you HAVE to see it.
Don't I have to wear a clown hat and a red nose when I do that?
Sin City I am a bit ambiguous about after reading the reviews. Although Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen in the same movie.. yummy.
You love Clive too? How many women do I have to beat down to get my paws on him! Everytime I think some guy is my little secret, I see there are several others who've already queued up. I think my only hope is to pick some actor from Burkina Faso.
Yes, I am sorry but Clive Owen is too gorgeous, so over my dead body!!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home