With its glorious sunshine and high passions, Rose Island may have the trappings of Italy, but it fits squarely in the tradition of fanciful British whimsy pioneered by Ealing Studios and carried on by the likes of Bill Forsyth. Sydney Sibilia’s based-on-a-true-story flick centres on idealistic underdogs set against uncaring bureaucracy in pursuit of a crazy dream. It might not hit the heights of a Passport To Pimlico or a Local Hero, but it delivers enough winning charm and sentiment to carry you away.
Rose Island’s hapless dreamer is Giorgio Rosa (Elio Germano), an engineer with bags of talent but little luck — his nifty self-designed car sees him arrested for having no licence, and the love of his life, Gabriella (The Undoing’s Matilda De Angelis), is marrying someone else because Giorgo is “risky”. “You have to take risks to change the world,” retorts Giorgio, happily stating the film’s theme in dialogue, and a chance run-in with a poster for an oil rig sparks the biggest risk of all: the notion of building his own steel island six miles off the coast of Rimini and for it to be declared an independent country in its own right.
The film is shot through with an optimism that is infectious.
Out of this slight but cheeky premise, Sibilia’s screenplay plays along obvious but enjoyable lines; Giorgio has to assemble a motley, likeable crew of misfits to help him: fellow engineer Maurizio (Leonardo Lidi), club promoter Neumann (Tom Wlaschiha), pregnant bar-keep Franca (Violetta Zironi) — who hopes to have the nascent country’s first baby — and Pietro (Alberto Astorri), a welder who just happened to come across the island. And, of course, as the island takes off as a party destination, Giorgio has to face the anger of the humiliated Italian government, who look to shut down his idyll through both official and unofficial (sending agents to infiltrate the island, intimidating Giorgio’s father, war ships) channels. A lot of screen time is devoted to this red-tape argy-bargy, with the case going from the UN to the Council Of Europe and even the Vatican, but often the various meetings just feel like treading water until the final showdown.
Still, Germano makes for a winning hero and the film is shot through with an optimism that is infectious. Unlike its hero, the film takes few risks, but Rose Island is a colourful, enchanting, entertaining space in which to stay for a couple of hours.