| Title | Porco Rosso | |
| Rating | 6/10 |  |
| Composer | Joe Hisaishi | |
| Add. Credits | Tracks 22 and 23 sung by Tokiko Kato | |
| Label, Year | Tokuma Japan Communications, 1992 | |
Review
Porco Rosso a.k.a. Kurenai no Buta is a Japanese animated film. Seen as a whole, this score is perhaps not as inspired as Kiki's Delivery Service or Castle In The Sky, let alone Princess Monoke, by the same composer, but certain passages are. As known from Joe Hisaishi's other scores, the orchestration is very accomplished and varied.
Track 4 is a pleasant piano piece. Track 5 is a very short, but nice string version of the same theme, which I think can be called the main theme. Of course, knowing Joe Hisaishi, it is a good one.
You can hear some - rather dull, but well-played - marches in the tracks 2, 6, 7, and 11. They might tend to annoy you after some time. Porco e Bella appears to be a love theme. Very gentle and nice. Too short, of course...
At times, the tracks 5, 12 and 15 are slightly reminiscent of Kiki's Delivery Service, especially 15 - being a waltz. The tracks 5, 12, and 16 belong to the more “conventional” score music Joe Hisiashi has composed for the movie. Madness Flight is a fast, piano-based action cue. Fio Seventeen and At The End Of The Summer partially sound like of Greek origin.
Lost Spirit is the longest track on the CD. It begins with an interesting piano composition, followed by some spheric synthesizer sounds. Most tracks are rather short and not really developed. The fully orchestrated parts in Dog Fights are particularly nice. Porco e Bella [Ending] is a gentle love ballad, with a light bossa rhythm running in the background. It ends with an orchestral rendition of one of the main themes. The two songs at the end sound like French chansons.
Overall, an interesting score with some highlights and some downsides. For Hisaishi fans a must have.
Track Rating
| Title | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wind of Time/When a Human Can Be a Human | 2:50 |  |
| 2 | Mammaiuto | 1:21 | |
| 3 | Addio! | 0:37 | |
| 4 | The Bygone Days | 2:16 |  |
| 5 | A Picture in Sepia Color | 0:47 | |
| 6 | Serbia March | 1:03 |  |
| 7 | Flying Boatmen | 2:36 | |
| 8 | Doom/Trap of Clouds | 1:23 |  |
| 9 | Porco e Bella | 1:06 | |
| 10 | Fio seventeen | 2:04 | |
| 11 | Women of Piccolo | 2:04 | |
| 12 | Friend | 3:04 | |
| 13 | Partnership | 2:28 | |
| 14 | Madness Flight | 2:39 | |
| 15 | To the Adriatic Sea | 1:50 | |
| 16 | In Search of the Distant Era | 2:18 | |
| 17 | Love at the First Sight in the Wildness | 1:11 | |
| 18 | At the End of the Summer | 1:26 | |
| 19 | Lost Spirit | 4:11 | |
| 20 | Dog Fight | 2:10 | |
| 21 | Porco e Bella [Ending] | 2:35 | |
| 22 | The Time of Cherries (song) | 2:52 | - |
| 23 | Once in a While, Talk of the Old Days (song) | 3:56 | - |
| 48:46 |
| Criteria | Weight | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Composition | 50% | 6 |
| Multitude of themes | 10% | 7 |
| Continuity | 10% | 6 |
| Instrumentation | 10% | 8 |
| Sound quality | 10% | 7 |
| Score length | 10% | 6 |
| Final Rating | 100% | 6/10 |
Related Links
Joe Hisaishi's Official Web Page
http://www.freespeech.org/colette/reviews/ghibli-7.htm