''Rose Island'' ( it, L'incredibile storia dell'Isola delle Rose) is a 2020 Italian

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Sydney Sibilia Sydney Sibilia (born 19 November 1981) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. Filmography *''I Can Quit Whenever I Want ''I Can Quit Whenever I Want'' ( it, Smetto quando voglio) is a 2014 Italian crime comedy film directed ...

. The film is based on the true story of engineer Giorgio Rosa and the Republic of Rose Island. It was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on 9 December 2020.

Plot

Giorgio Rosa approaches the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

with a petition to protect and recognize his Island, which he later elaborates was built by him and his friend Maurizio Orlandini. The film flashes back to 1968 to show how after passing the state engineering exam, he met with his ex-girlfriend, Gabriella, in Bologna. While he drives them home, they are stopped by police because his homemade car lacks license plates. They also discover it was never registered. He is jailed for the night and bailed out by his father. Gabriella is fingerprinted, but not charged, and thus later must deal with having a mark on her record. Three months later, he is working for motorbike racer Bruno Spaggiari as an engineer when he sees a billboard showing an

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

. Inspired, he convinces Maurizio who is tired of working in his father's company, to help him build an island just outside the territorial waters and, thus, the legal jurisdiction of Italy, where everyone is free to do as they want. With the money that Maurizio has stolen from his father and innovative engineering solutions that drastically reduce the cost of materials, they successfully build an island of their own with a supply of fresh water. A cast-away welder with his boat asks for shelter during a storm and becomes the first resident. Club promoter Wolfgang Rudy Neumann visits the island. He is a stateless man of German origin and PR manager at a Rimini beach club. He starts to promote the island as a tourist destination and more people begin to visit, attracted by the freedom it represents from the established states. Franca, a 19-year-old pregnant girl, offers to become the barmaid of the 400-square-meter island's sole bar. Gabriella, who had come to the island to tell Giorgio of her pending marriage, claims that it's not a nation, and is nothing more than a disco. Giorgio argues that the island, now named Rose Island, has its own language, currency, postal system, and other amenities including a citizenship process that is soon to be started. Gabriella points out that there is no official recognition of it. A letter is written to the

United Nations Headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

in New York, which contacts the Italian government. As the island's president, Giorgio is pressured by the government to relinquish control. He refuses. In retaliation, the Italian authorities arrange for his father to be fired from his job. Other members of the island are also made offers to leave, which they accept. Gabriella advises Giorgio to approach the

for help and accepted his case for further investigation. The Italian government threatens to destroy the island. When Giorgio refuses to back down, the other residents return and stand along with him on the island against the

Italian navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

. They are detained and the island is blown up. The film ends showing Gabriella and Giorgio getting back together. History notes Rose Island was, despite its short life, a landmark event of being the only nation to be directly attacked by the Italian Republic. To prevent similar accidents from occurring in the future, the UN extended the international waters territory from 6 to 12 nautical miles.

Cast

Reception

''Rose Island'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of , based on reviews Linda Marric of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote: "Sibilia and co-writer Francesca Manieri successfully mix whimsy and pathos to give us something truly inspiring."

References

External links

* * * * {{micronations 2020 films 2020s Italian-language films 2020 comedy-drama films Italian comedy-drama films Italian-language Netflix original films Films directed by Sydney Sibilia Italian films based on actual events Films set in Emilia-Romagna Films set in the 1960s Films set in 1968 2020s Italian films Works about micronations

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links