Porco Rosso

Take a bit of the essence of Casablanca, hints of the Marx Brothers, the dream travels of the Little Prince and a healthy dose of Japanese wackiness and you've got Porco Rosso. Known in Japan as Crimson Pig (紅の豚, Kurenai no Buta) this was the sixth anime film by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1992, about an unusual Italian World War I pilot, now living as a freelance bounty hunter in the Adriatic.

Inspired by the writings of Exupéry and infused with Miyazaki's love of flying, it is the story of a "pig" that refuses to join the Italian fascist movement in the '30s. There's lots to enjoy in this film though a younger audience might miss the allegories.

Here's the trailer:


Sometimes when being human has lost it's meaning, it is better to be a pig...
8/10