User Reviews

Living not more than 30km from the place where 'Insulo de la Rozoj' was built, I was always interested in a movie depicting its history...This one leans too much on the comedic side (maybe to avoid a historic drama tone), leaving to the (skilled) actors the task of saving characters' depth. The technical details and photography are indeed very enjoyable, maybe it's just a bit noisy.

This is a beautiful retrospective of history. The soundtrack is amazing and the shots fits well with the story being told. I learned about a part of history that I didn't know about and that had huge implication for international ocean governance.

Sibilia's first major work after 'Smetto quando voglio' trilogy fails to adopt a different yet needed style for this flick. The film is indeed genuinely entertaining still presumptuous. The relevancy of this historical event was minor at the very least in the Italian politics yet is portrayed as an enourmous occurrency. The historical inaccuracy given to the event is froustrating since the movie tries to rebember to the spectator the truthfulness of the event although in reality the happening was completely different. Besides of this, the film is still enjoyable mainly thanks to Germano's acting and the director's slighty surreal touch.

This film has great esthetics, probably watchable on that alone, but as a whole is a mess. The narrative is so drawn out, with at least a dozen repetitions of the same joke of incredulity on the part of staid bureaucrats, that about 30 minutes in, you'd be better of stopping viewing.

Appreciate the symbolic crazy idea. I always love Utopian ideas, because they always give the greatest trust to humanity. Beautiful color, beautiful dream, interesting time point, nice music. I don't hate slow movie, but this one should be better.

It's a fascinating story if only the storytelling was more effective.

It's a rarity to learn the unusual story of a smart engineer who builds a platform in international waters, claims it a micro nation and attracts international attention for his audacity. But the story ends in a whimper like an almost forgotten footnote in Italian history. We learn that Giorgio Rosa dies 48 years after the Italian government destroyed it. One significant aftermath though is that nations agree to extend a country's territorial waters 12 nautical miles from the coast, from 6 miles previously.

The tone of the film is light with comedic touches here and there even though the subject matter is serious. It doesn't convey the tension specially when the Italian government takes serious notice of Rose Island.

Giorgio Rosa, as portrayed by Eli Gernado, lacks the gravitas in fighting for his island. The focus is more on the love story between him and Gabriella.

At any rate, the movie reminds us that Rose Island was once a reality even if only for a short time. Because of this story, the contours of territorial integrity has changed.

Inspiring, entertaining and funny as heck; "Rose Island" showcases an anarchistic story that more people should know about.

In this comedy based on a true story, an engineer builds his own island off the Italian coast and declares it a nation, drawing the world's attention in the 1960s.

Sharply written with a strong message at hand, "Rose Island" exceeded my expectations and is one of the better films now streaming on Netflix. Solid performances from the cast and a soundtrack that is so killer, you'll be grooving while sitting on your couch. I do believe that more people need to know this story, especially that it's the only story of its kind EVER. Heartfelt, witty and smart this is a great film.

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I love this movie and what it represents. Im glad that a movie like this was made and shows that someone in the past actually did try to change the world and actually did.

A nation smaller than our home - 4300 sq ft a micro-nation, a self declared republic built by an eccentric idealistic young engineer Giorgio Rosa on the international waters some 11 miles from the Italian coast in late 1960s, during the French civil unrest .. it was not just some crazy feat but was quite a challenging engineering masterpiece during those days considering the limited resources he had.. was it a scream for freedom or a mean to make money ??? Fascinating true story but movie is a little drag at few places esp the satirical deliberateness are quite tenuous...

This is a beautifully written, acted and directed little gem. It is very funny, sweet, intelligent and light. The design production and photography are particularly beautiful, colourful, a bit surrealist, reminiscent of Fellini's style. Very enjoyable.

Once more "based on a real story" doesn't necessarily make for a great plot. In this case, the starting point was the idea of an eccentric young engineer, Giorgio Rosa, to build his own island and live according to his own rules.

He ended up with a concrete platform just outside Italian coastal waters and at a convenient distance from Rimini. This platform was used as a discotheque during a single summer and then destroyed. Not much of a story, but the plot of the movie is inventive and makes the narration more or less interesting.

It's all based on Giorgio's eccentric personality and his love story with Gabriella. Add a weirdo friend, a German deserter and a pregnant barista and you get a motley cast.

Unfortunately at least one third of the story takes place in the world of Italian politicians, bent on destroying the island. This part drags the movie down, it's repetitive and the satirical intentions too diluted to have any impact. Besides, one doesn't really understand what was Giorgio going to do on the platform except holding a summer job without paying taxes.

Anyway an enjoyable film with a great soundtrack that will make everybody nostalgic for the summer of 69..

The majority of critics have no clue about the significance of the events carefully crafted in this truly Italian opereta. I was 18 when this happened and it looked absolutely insane looking at this from America. Fortunately I speak Italian and actors are just fantastic. I will give special credits to Francois Cluzet, one of my favorite French actors. The events are those that happened that year of revolts in France and elsewhere, while this engineer Rosa makes the impossible to pass the same message with technology.

Not a bad movie, but a very commercial one for sure. The kind of movie you are pleased to watch when you have nothing to do on a Sunday evening. I thought that Cluzet would've had a bigger role as well, but it is a cameo. 5.5/10

Aesthetically and technically speaking Sydney Sibilia is one of the few directors who manages to make a homegrown film at the level of other international productions and therefore addressed to a much wider audience, not limiting himself to the Italian one as most of the productions of the our country do. "L'incredibile storia dell'isola delle rose" is yet another confirmation of this: special effects, direction and, in particular, cinematography are of excellent quality, an example for all those filmmakers who want to change italian cinema to make it visible and appreciable in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, however, the screenplay does not propose the same quality, between forced and banal dialogues, poorly characterized characters and a fluctuating rhythm, everything that makes this (unjustly omitted from the history books) story wonderfully interesting is missing: the sense of affront and rebellion towards a system that seemed untouchable but also the absurdity, the incredible passion, the irony and at the same time the humanity behind it and its characters, are almost never perceived. The film works as a medium-level comedy-drama and manages to entertain and intrigue but is often unable to tell the facts as they deserved to be told, giving them the more than necessary political, historical and social importance.

The script is not perfect. And, like all European movies, it is rather slow. But it's an amazing story of freedom right from the middle of the Evil Empire. Kings, Crusades, World Wars, and a handful of individuals looking for freedom. And 2020 is the probably the best time to launch this story.

A film that invites us to exploit our potential and always pursue our ideals and those things that we are passionate about. It also shows how the system crushes you if you do not meet the standard that they want, and of course, the same society.

"This film adaptation is directed by Sydney Sibilia, who has flexed his muscles with I CAN QUIT WHENEVER I WANT trilogy, and stars Elio Germano as Giorgio the idealist. Starting in medias res, in the snow-covered Strasbourg, we are introduced to the scenes where Giorgio seeks legal help from Council of Europe to secure his state's autonomy, the far-outness of Giorgio's plea is so incredible, and ROSE ISLAND does crank up the story's comical value, but founders to examine Giorgio and his co.'s habitus under a larger societal pattern, viz. The flower power. We get glimpses of the monochromatic footage of May '68, but what is the connexion between it and Giorgio's spectacular whimsy?"

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore.

The incredible story of the island of the Rose is an Italian drama based on real events. It is about an idealistic young man who, seeing himself at one point frustrated and crushed by the system, rejected by his ex-girlfriend and alienated from reality, imagines a place that is only for him, building an island and unleashing the fury of the system. Entertaining Quality. Light jokes and sarcasms of situation. The time spectacularly recreated. The soundtrack at the moment. Good effects, except for two or three moments are not fully achieved. How many of us have potential and the system limits us and takes it away from us? How much of our potential and free spirit does the school and the system foster? Why does the system pressure us on those people or situations that it cannot control? That's what the movie is about. A film that invites us to exploit our potential and always pursue our ideals and those things that we are passionate about. It also shows how the system crushes you if you do not meet the standard that they want, and of course, the same society. The acting is good and the script is nice.

It is a very fascinating true story about the creation of an island; the plot is decent and the performances are good; it's a good movie, but it feels too long.

This film tells the true story of the Rose Island. The focus is on the dreamer Giorgio Rosa, who is building his own island in international waters. The project soon attracted hippies and became a controversial topic in Italian politics. This film is entertaining, funny and educational. The actors do a great job and the sets are equipped with a great deal of attention to detail and a bunch of authentic vintage cars.

Initially didnt finish this movie because of poor dubbing. But came back to it and enjoyed the story. Voice dubbing on netflix is like early 80s kung fu movies with time delayed strange voices . Terrible.

What a joy it was to watch this movie! For change, especially in these troubled times we find humour, fun, love, all done in the manner of Italian cinema of the sixties and seventies, still fun to watch after all these years - well there you go, Rose Island has it all. MUST WATCH.

Okay, this adaptation is acceptable, I watched a documentary and it was quite adequate, although some things were missing that could blow your mind.

A really cool concept, especially considering it's based on a true story. I loved the music and the cinematography was well done. However, the storyline was slow and meandered a bit.