Porco Rosso

Between the world wars, the shadows of dictatorship loomed in mainland Italy, but the skies over the Adriatic Sea were still a world of absolute freedom and knightly heroism. Master pilot Porco Rosso is like a hero from an old Italian or French adventure film. His aerial battles with air pirates are full of grace and exaggeration, and his charm of a rough diamond shines in subtle encounters with ladies and fierce confrontations with villains. And it doesn't change the fact that a mysterious curse has made his head look like a pig. In the film, world-renowned animation director Hayao Miyazaki has delivered an ode to the world of fearless aviators in a time when flying still had the hallmark of adventure. The film is based on Miyazaki's own comic book, in which the one-man director and cartoonist paid tribute to his favourite 1920s aircrafts through melancholic watercolour drawings. But it was only in the film version that he was able to fully capture the balletic glamour of period aerial combat.