Monday, November 12, 2012

Porco Rosso

On Saturday Josh had really wanted to go to an industry screening of Rise of the Guardians and I wanted to go to Barbes to hear a friend play music (this is a total turnaround from usual. Usually I want to go to a movie—and I love industry screenings—and Josh wants to hear live music. But I didn't want to shlep into Manhattan, and the movie didn't sound very interesting to me, and the live music was in the neighborhood.) Anyhow, I cut him a deal. If we didn't have to go to Manhattan, we could watch an animated film at home.

I had just unpacked my DVDs, and knew I had a bunch of Miyazaki films, including some I hadn't yet watched. Josh got to pick which one we'd see, and he chose Porco Rosso, a story of a seaplane pilot in the Adriatic, in the interwar period, who got turned into a pig during a devastating dogfight in which his best friend was killed.

The thing that was completely enjoyable about the film was that it was set in a stunning Adriatic landscape. I can't remember ever before watching an animation and thinking to myself, "Wow, it is beautiful there." A surprise pixelated escape. (And also a surprise girl-power theme.) And a movie date with Josh without having to go to Manhattan on my one day off from going to Manhattan.

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