Rose Island
You don’t hate me for what I’ve done, but for what I could do
Summary:
Giorgio Rosa was an Italian engineer who in 1967 after graduating from school decided that he wanted to leave his life and country behind and construct an island out of steel like a platform in the international waters of the coast of Rimini Italy. With the help of his friend and fellow engineer Maurizio, the two constructed the island and lived on the island. As they began to build things on the island, they hired some people who saw the potential of making the island a tourist attraction. The island now named Rose Island became famous across Europe and people begin going to the island to have a good time. Eventually, Giorgio wants to officially make the island an independent state and so sends information about the island to the United Nations to seek approval. The Italian government catches wind of this and is not pleased so they begin trying to prevent the island from becoming a state while Giorgio valiantly defends it.
Characters:
Giorgio Rosa is a recent graduate and is officially an engineer. During his time as a student, Giorgio lived in his own world and pursued his dreams. He built a functional airplane and a serviceable car, which is nothing to scoff at. However, with all his genius, Giorgio does not understand basic Italian law and gets arrested one night after getting caught with no license plate, no registration, and no license. Alongside this genius are the other residents of the Rose Island government, Maurizio as Secretary, Neumann as International Affairs, Franca as the barkeep, and Pietro Bernardi as Surveillance and Defense.
Sebastian: 8.7/10
Going into this movie I did realize this movie was based on a true story and from the moment the title card that said based on a true story showed up I immediately became more interested. The concept that a man basically tried to reject the laws of his country to make his own independent state is fascinating and the fact that it nearly worked is all the more intriguing. As a character (and I’m assuming as a person) is one of those free thinkers and trailblazers that history tends to remember but it’s funny to think I have never heard his story, maybe that’s because he tried to change things too fast but who knows it is definitely interesting. Giorgio is someone you can root for and you want to see him succeed as he tries to change the world instead of changing for the world. The story as I mentioned is very cool and the way that they built the island is innovative and was cool to watch. The way that they begin using the island as a tourist attraction that is all fun is a simple idea that makes sense but then it was nice to see how that really progressed to the independent state idea which was the original goal. This movie is listed as a comedy and there were several moments that made me laugh and overall, I did find it funny. I guess I should mention as well that the movie is in Italian and due to some issues with my Netflix, I ended watching a French dub instead of English though I did use English subtitles. Overall, the dub was pretty smooth and the subtitles matched for the most part. I did have an issue with the film that I noticed could be a big downside for some people. A lot of this movie was just people sitting and talking, like no not every movie needs big action scenes or extravagant situations but what I mean is that there is simply a lot of sitting down at tables talking. Most movies do have a lot of talking but most movies hide it better than just sitting and talking with a lot of the exposition(information) being delivered in an unoriginal straightforward manner.
All in all, a pretty solid movie that if you’re looking for a different kind of comedy with a really unique and true premise I would recommend. It is not without a few flaws but I enjoyed it in the end and hope you do too.
Austin: 8.2/10
This is a very intriguing movie based on a true story. As an engineering student, this plot grabbed my attention at the beginning, but it does a good job of staying captivating. Taking place in 1968, the plot was fairly simple, but I couldn’t believe I had never heard Giorgio Rose’s story. This movie doesn’t rely on comedy, nor does it use it very often, but there are a few moments of funny moments of situational irony within the first 30 minutes that helped introduce the characters and build up to the plot. This plot is fairly well-adapted, and the characters were also well written. I had two issues on the characters’ side, one of which could be because I don’t speak Italian. This is a dubbed movie originally in Italian, and the English dub is choppy. I’m not sure if it is because the flow is lost in the translation or if it just was super well written. If anyone watches this in its original format, drop a comment on if the dialogue flows or stays that same sort of choppy style. The other issue I have with the characters is we don’t get a whole bunch of detail surrounding their previous lives. The character development is lacking, and while I understand that wasn’t the main focus of this movie, I really would have liked to get a bit more information about the characters around Giorgio. I thought the ending was good, not unlike the movie. It left a few things up in the air, but it did a good job of closing the book on Rose Island.
This is a good movie that makes you appreciate Giorgio’s genius, but it also reminds us of the way people ahead of their time are treated. I think I enjoyed the true story behind the movie more than the actual movie itself, but the movie does a good job providing the information.
Nathanyal: 8.0/10
Based on a true story, Rose Island was a good movie with an interesting premise, and this movie was also based on a true story. As an engineering student, it was interesting to see how the characters were able to create an island in the middle of the sea and the ideas to transport materials. Just the science and ideas in general piqued my interest and kept my attention throughout the movie. Another aspect I enjoyed was watching the political implications of the idea and how this idea could shake the foundation on which worldwide politics are set upon. It made me think about how no one else has had the same idea since the 1960s. This answer was given at the end of the movie at least. Although this movie is originally in Italian, this movie’s English dubs features some dialogue in French, which was fun to hear. It brought some extra diversity that I didn’t know I even wanted.
The only downside of this movie was the pacing, as it was a bit on the slower side. For a 2-hour movie, it felt closer to a personal documentary about a man’s dream than an actual movie.
Overall, the movie was still enjoyable to watch and is better than other dubbed movies we have watched lately. For those interested in radical ideas, this is the movie for you.
