Porco Rosso - History and Politics

History and Politics

Porco Rosso is one of the few films directed by Hayao Miyazaki in which the historical and geographical settings are clearly defined and where most of the story could have happened in the real world. Marco is an Italian hero from the First World War and is shown fighting against Austro-Hungarian fighter planes in a flashback sequence. The story is set in the Adriatic Sea east coast between Dalmatian and Kvarner islands.

The story happens between the time of the two World Wars. The scenes and the map shown in the film suggest the town is Fiume (today Rijeka), although it could be set in any of the cities of Dalmatia under Italian occupation. The story takes place during the fascist era; Italian guards are portrayed in military parades with typical fascist uniforms ("blackshirts"), albeit with different colors (black, blue and green). When Porco is buying ammunition from his favorite tool shop, the owner states that "government is changing again", which conceivably places the story in 1924, when Fiume was annexed by Italy under the terms of the Treaty of Rome. Italy, like many European countries, suffered severe economic hardship after the First World War and the economic crisis mentioned in the film is probably intended to be the European 1920s post-war depression rather than the global depression of the 1930s. However, the manga from which the film was derived specifically states the story is set in 1929, and in the opening sequence of the film Porco is reading a magazine bearing a 1929 date.

Porco makes statements of his being anti-fascist, quipping during one scene that "I'd much rather be a pig than a fascist".