Porco Rosso

Join Porco Rosso, a grumpy yet heroic seaplane pilot, on an exhilarating ride through the skies that you’ll never forget.

Hidden on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, Porco Rosso leads a quiet life. Wanted by police in Italy, Porco and his bright red seaplane are on call for the right price to save people from a gang of airborne pirates.

However, when a new pilot arrives from America and swiftly joins the pirates’ ranks, Porco may have met his match.

Curator’s Note

Celebrated upon its release and cherished ever since, Porco Rosso became the first Studio Ghibli film to win the coveted Cristal du long métrage prize (for best feature-length film) at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Set in 1929 in the Adriatic Sea somewhere off the coast of Italy, the film captures and romanticises a time and place far from the studio that created it. Joe Hisaishi’s score accentuates this with swooning strings accompanying piano and orchestral pieces. Marching band music signifies the First World War, which still haunts the locale – Porco Rosso himself is a former fighter pilot.

To include younger viewers and viewers with differing literacy levels, we’ve decided to screen the English language version of the film, featuring the surly voice of Michael Keaton as Porco Rosso.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)

Our special Kids' Flicks with Feelings sessions include a curator introduction where we introduce the concept of emotional intelligence. Each session will begin by listening to a piece of music from the film's emotive score.