Porco Rosso [DVD]

Yet more proof from a master storyteller that anime is as high a form of art as any. This fabulously poignant and funny story contains many of Hayao Miyazaki's marks of quirky genius. It's about the life and loves of a seaplane pilot who has been turned into a pig and makes his living in the Adriatic as a bounty hunter, during the rise of Fascism in Italy. So what's so strange about that? After all, as he says, while he is calmly sorting through his sub-standard ammunition on the night before a Duel to the Death with his satisfyingly villanous arch-rival, "All middle-aged men are pigs."Unlike any other film in the world, and unlike the other Studio Ghibli films. An act of gratuitous creativity.Visually ravishing, but to anyone interested in animation and storytelling, this is a bottomless goldmine of expertise in every aspect of the art; timing, framing, characterisation, colour, background detail, you name it.Both Japanese and American voicework are flawless, though the Japanese version has some moments of true poignancy that were missed in the US version, which is slightly more facile in a couple of places. Every single character in the film is faultlessly animated, penetratingly observed, and funny. Every scene is worth seeing a hundred times.But the story itself, my dears, is just so plain inspired, teetering as it does along the brink of some fairly punchy taboo areas, but always with a delightfully clear and high and affectionate moral purpose.And even the credits at the end, which combine a hauntingly beautiful song by the wonderful Tokiko Kato with Hayao Miyazaki's hilarious sketches of tween-wars pilots and their planes, hold the viewer between tears and laughter.Miyazaki-san, thank you!Buy several copies and give all but one to your best friends.

Utterly gorgeous to look at, with at least two of the most beautiful sequences of animation ever filmed. But also very funny, engaging, and thoughtful by turns. Plenty here for film fans of any age and persuasion, plotlines ranging from old-fashioned unrequited love (Gina and Marco) to adventure (Porco v. just about everybody else in the air), to political intrigue (secret police etc), but the main focus is less the story than the sheer romance of flying and rescuing fantastic machines amid wonderful scenery. When Porco tells Fio the story of how he came to be cursed - which is all a bit existential, not that that matters at all - it's perhaps the most poignant scene of any animated film: gently enigmatic, glorious to see, and just plain heartbreaking, all at once.I first saw the film just over 10 years ago, slightly intrigued by what all the fuss was about, and loved it straightaway. Since then I've watched it probably every other year. More surprisingly, despite plenty of competition from fine newer releases by Miyazaki, Pixar et al., my children adore this film it as much as ever (they were 5-ish on first seeing it, so 15-ish now and still wanting to see it) - that's quite a test of the Crimson Pig's durability.Miyazaki, on form, is arguably the best hand-drawn animator alive. Porco Rosso is among his very finest work.

Porco Rosso is another Studio Ghibli gem. If you understand Pokemon you will get the themes and story lines in Studio Ghibli films. Porco Rosso is easy on the eye and brain. A selfish fighter pilot survives a fight his friend doesn't and he is commissioned by his friend to look after his now widow while being cursed (pig appearance) and dodging different authorities. The film deals with some quite adult themes such as death, relationships, bigotry, war and in the case of Porco Rosso challenging his beliefs about women and their place in society but it is done with an element of humour and satirical comedy. It seems to end abruptly but perhaps I missed something and I will have to watch it a few more times to get the ending - not everything is USA and have to have a conclusion. Our first purchase from Studio Ghibli was 'Howls moving Castle' which all ages in our family loved, we were very pleased with this second helping from SG. Its PG rating however is earned and you will be pestered by the very young with 'why' and 'whats that mean'. It is typical of Studio Ghibli.

I put off buying this until fairly recently because I'd wrongly assumed it would only really be enjoyed by men when in fact it's actually one for the whole family. All the characters, including the baddies are great fun, especially the unfortunate pirates tormented by the group of adorable schools girls kidnapped for ransom at the start of the film.The hero is Porco Rosso, a fearless air pilot whose face at some point in the past turned into that of a pig and who hires himself out for rescue missions, bounty hunts and the like, while spending much of his time with his 'close' friend, singer and hotel owner Gina. When local usurpers severely damage his plane, he travels to Milan with a young talented female mechanic in order to repair it, all while attempting to outwit the Italian secret police, air force and local pirates.