Kurenai no buta

  .

An aviator cursed to live out his days as a pig flies the skies of Italy circa the 1920s, battling pirates, an American grandstander (is there any other kind?) and fascists. He also has to deal with the love of two women, one his childhood sweetheart who has outlived three husbands, the other an auburn-haired and very appealing teenager who becomes his engineer -- and who bears a striking resemblance to both Kiki and Nausicaa. The gag is that Porco (Mario to his friends) doesn't deal very well with the gals in his life. The luminescent artwork on display in this striking cartoon is akin to that of CASTLE IN THE SKY and the characters are some of the best Miyazaki has ever come up with. The final dogfight is a major treat for the eyes, and right out of a John Wayne leathernecks-type movie. If kiddie films like TOTORO and KIKI and THE CAT RETURNS are not your cup of tea, this ought to be. It is a cartoon, but it plays like an adult-oriented drama with comic overtones about love unrequited and a man doing what a man has got to do. In this case, fly. And avoid romantic entanglements as much as possible. See it.