The currency of honour is what drives Porco Rosso the movie, but is it what drives Marco Pagot the character? Both heroes and villains in the film are trying to capture that illusive idea of honour, either from challenging Marco to duels, as in the case of Donald Curtis the American, or to the sea pirates who, despite capturing children as hostages, effectively allow said children to take control of their aircraft, such is their unwillingness to cause them harm. His form represents a freedom from authority yes, but perhaps also showcases a rather tragic disassociation from his own kind, after seeing the shame of the war, having coated himself in that shame by taking part. The narrative force of the film is not for Marco to lift his ailment and become human again, rather, the force of the film is derived more from Marco’s seeming insistence that he is better off this way. There is brief reference to the reason for this in the film, something about “a curse”, but this explanation does not ring true. And, because this is a Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli produced production, Marco Pagot is also a talking pig. What he has seen in the war, what he has had to do, are left unsaid but implied with the simple mannerisms he exhibits. He commands a respect that he does not invite, says what needs to be said, refuses affection or companionship.

Veteran-turned-bounty hunter, Marco is immortalised in Hayao Miyazaki’s film Porco Rosso (1992) – his steely-eyed, wounded nature reveal more about his experiences and about his pain than a quirkier and more compulsive figure ever could.

Marco Pagot is haunted by the memories of a war since passed.

Real porco rosso plane