Film Review The Incredible History Of Rose Island: The Rise And Fall Of A Utopia

        Leaving aside some heavy filter tinting and strong artificial retro tone, the incredible history of Rose Island is an interesting film. It tells a "cold knowledge" in Contemporary European history in a fast-paced humorous style: in 1968, the rise and fall of a regime called "the Republic of Rose Island" in less than a year.

If not for this film, few people would have known that in the late 1960s, an engineer named George Rosa established a 400 square meter micro state on the Adriatic high seas, 11 kilometers off the Italian Rimini coast. Because "Rosa" means "Rose" in Italian, this place is called "Rose Island". The permanent population here is less than 10, but from the moment of its establishment, it has pledged its sovereignty, not only confirming the official language, issuing its own currency and stamps, but also trying to gain the recognition of the United Nations. Hearing this, the Italian government became angry and decided to take all measures to prevent its development. The "international dispute" ended in a farce, a controversial page in the history of Italy and Europe.

The incredible history of Rose Island is based on this real event. Of course, it inevitably rewrites the event romantically, making the story more dreamy under the "historical filter". The film begins with George Rosa's arrival at the UN office building and wants to rectify the name of his island. It goes back to a year ago when he and his friends suddenly thought of using seawater to pour back into hollow steel columns to build a piece of land in the sea. In the story, love is the driving force for George to build rose island. Gabriel, the lawyer's girlfriend, leaves him because of his personality incompatibility. He decides to find his "absolute freedom" on the high seas. As an engineer, George Rosa quickly overcame technical barriers and completed the construction of an artificial island. Many young people come here to party on the island and enjoy the sunshine. For a while, Rose Island is famous. Rosa wanted to make the island go further, so she began her own political career - declaring the island's sovereignty and independence, claiming to be president, issuing a passport... And her girlfriend, who had gone far away, was also moved by his spirit of defending freedom, and returned to him, determined to protect everything in Rose Island. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Just a few months later, the Italian fleet launched a military attack on the island and blew it up completely. Ironically, this was the only Italian initiative to launch a military operation after World War II.

It is true that the reasons for the birth of the Republic of Rose Island in history are more complicated than those described in the film. Influenced by the thought of "may storm" in France in the late 1960s, George Rosa tried to establish his own experimental field of anarchy on the high seas far away from the European continent. In this self-made country, he integrated his own expectations and vision of Utopia. This is also involved in the film, but perhaps for the sake of entertainment, the story plays down the political intention behind the characters.

It took only half a year from the establishment of Rose Island to its downfall. Whether it was regarded as a serious Utopia practice or a farce made by a dreamer, it vividly demonstrated human's infatuation with certain game rules and social order. The technical challenges of building a mini country may not be as thrilling as "encircling the earth in 80 days", nor is it as mysterious as "twenty thousand miles under the sea". However, no matter how large the area and the size of its population, it is a complex and meticulous project. In this sense, although the film version of "the incredible history of Rose Island" restores the whole story of the incident, it is a great pity that the status of the island in the eyes of Europeans at that time and its far-reaching influence on the youth subculture have been swept away in a hurry. At the end of the film, the appearance of the archetype of historical figures can not help but make people feel sad: sometimes, the degree of reality is far more wonderful than any art works.