NEW ITALIAN CINEMA in San Francisco, Nov. 22-24-Dec. 2, 2019

[Chris Knipp]

GABRIELE SALVATORES: VOLARE/TUTTO IL MIO FOLLE AMORE (2019)


GIULIO PRANNO AND CLAUDIO SANTAMARIA IN VOLARE/TUTTO IL MIO FOLLE AMORE

Man child and boy child on walkabout

In Salvatores' excellent I'm Not Afraid/Io non ho paura (2003), adapted from a popular novel, we enter the world of a boy in a remote location who discovers the hiding place of a kidnapped boy his same age. It plays effectively with wildness, fear, and invisibility. In The Invisible Boy / Il ragazzo invisibile (2014) the focus is a misfit boy who discovers a superpower - invisibility. Now, in Volare/Tutto il mio folle amore, the focus is the 16-year old Vincent (the explosive Giulio Pranno), a very visible and very unruly wild child who is autistic. His long absent father Willi (Claudio Santamaria) appears and Vincent stows away on his father's truck when he drives to a singing gig in Slovenia and Croatia and a bond develops between the wild boy and his disreputable dad. Meanwhile Willi's ex-girlfriend Elena (Valeria Golino), Vincent's mom, and her staid, guru-like older current partner, Mario (Diego Abatantuono), try to figure out how to get Vincent back and go on a road trip to find him.

The film turns into a buddy picture, a road move, an adventure. Vincent, a blond boy-child, is a goofy idiot savant who talks in baby talk but knows things. He's a fantasy, not a realistic example of autism, rather a notion of how charming it might be not to play by any of the rules. Sure, it's feel-good nonsense, but Salvatores has flair. He works magic with gypsies and sunsets. Young Giulio Pranno, who seems to be making it up from one minute to the next, takes us along on his wild fantasy trip.

Volare/Tutto il mio folle amore, 97 min., debuted out of competition at Venice, released in Italy Oct. 24.

Cinema Italian Style 2019, Vogue Theater, San Francisco Saturday, November 23, 6:00 pm