Editing Porco Rosso (section)

==History, geography and politics==
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Marco is an Italian hero from the [[World War I|First World War]] and is shown fighting against Austro-Hungarian [[fighter planes]] in a flashback sequence. The story is set in [[Northern Italy]], including [[Milan]], and the Italian and Croatian [[Adriatic Sea]] east coast. Some locations resemble certain islands of the [[Italian Lakes]]. The concealed beach Porco uses as a hideout bears a strong resemblance to Stiniva Beach, on the southern side of the Croatian island of [[Vis (island)|Vis]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinke |date=2019-02-12 |title=Discover Stiniva, One of CNN's Favorite Beaches |url=https://www.croatia-times.com/the-adriatic-times/discover-stiniva-one-of-cnns-favorite-beaches/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Croatia Times |language=en-US |archive-date=October 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013165303/https://www.croatia-times.com/the-adriatic-times/discover-stiniva-one-of-cnns-favorite-beaches/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Miyazaki shed light on the political context of the making of the film in an interview with ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]''. He reflects that the conflicts that broke out during the film's production (such as those in [[Siege of Dubrovnik|Dubrovnik]] and elsewhere) made ''Porco Rosso'' a much more complicated and difficult film.<ref>{{cite journal|last= Jolin |first=Dan|title=Miyazaki on Miyazaki|journal= Empire |date= September 2009|issue=243 |page= 119}}</ref>

Evident historical and political realism aside, at least one scholar has argued that the film's more overt historical references can be understood as representative of ''wakon yōsai'' (<small>[[:jp:和魂洋才|Jp]]</small>; "[[Yamato-damashii|Japanese spirit]], Western learning")—a tendency, since the [[Meiji period]], for Japanese artists to paint Europe as spectacular, while simultaneously maintaining the distance necessary to preserve a distinct sense of Japanese identity. "In Porco Rosso," states academic Chris Wood, "Europe is tamed, rendered as a charming site of pleasurable consumption, made distant and viewed through a tourist gaze."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wood|first1=Chris|title= The European fantasy space and identity construction in ''Porco Rosso'' |journal=Post Script|date=Winter–Spring 2009 |volume= 28 |issue=2 |page=112 |access-date= July 31, 2019 |url= http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/39660078/european-fantasy-space-identity-construction-porco-rosso |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190801021746/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/39660078/european-fantasy-space-identity-construction-porco-rosso |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2019-08-01 |url-access=registration}}</ref>