L’Incredibile storia dell’Isola delle Rose
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: 4/5
Negativity shouldn’t stop your dreams!
As an Italian, it’s only right that I review an Italian film. L’Incredibile storia dell’Isola delle Rose, or Rose Island in English is an Italian film based on the true story of Giorgio Rosa. Rosa was an engineer who decided to build an island off the coast of Rimini, Italy in international waters, in search of freedom. He eventually seeks approval from the United Nations to become a sovereign nation, as people became citizens of the country and his island drew people from all over the world to visit.
This film is pretty great. It’s not really about engineering, politics, partying on an island, it’s about chasing your goals in the face of adversity. Rosa, who doesn’t have the approval of his father or his love interest, but is a very adept engineer has every negative obstacle come in his way. People tell him he can’t do it, it’s not right, it’s illegal, people around him argue, he’s not as genius as he may seem to be…and so forth. The drama aspect in this film is pretty perfect. You can really sympathize with Rosa but also see where the other people are coming from. For me, I root for Rosa in this film, even though I think the other side is probably right. There’s something about being told you’ll fail, that you can’t do something, that inspires the pursuit of success and freedom. That’s what this movie is about and I think that’s a great message.
The comedy in this film is really great too. There are a select few scenes that had me dying and many more that had me let out an audible chuckle. Match that with the great drama in the story, this is one of the best comedy/drama films I have seen in recent years.
On a technical aspect, the production value is pretty top notch. There is some really good shot selection and the color is fantastic. The one thing I will draw away from the cinematography, are a few CGI shots of the island. They are clearly CGI, and not very good CGI. Usually, I would give that a pass, but I didn’t think those shots were necessary to complete the film. In that, they were a bit distracting and I thought it was unnecessary. My other technical note is that in certain scenes, particularly an early scene in a bar, it is really hard to hear. Sure it’s a bar and that’s pretty natural, but still, I would have liked to be able to hear the main conversation more clearly than what was going on in the background.
Overall, I really loved this film. It was genuinely funny and the drama really made me feel something. The acting overall is very good and so is the set design. There are a few scenes that involve a lot, a lot of moving pieces, that really impressed me. I’m not going into spoilers in this review, but this movie does take place in 1968, so as a period piece, I didn’t see any leaks on the production design aspect of the film. Would I watch it again? I most certainly will. I can definitely feel this films rewatch ability. Should you watch it? Yes! Especially if you can speak Italian, but even if you can’t!
Tony King
Comments