Volare or All My Crazy Love is an Italian movie directed by Gabriele Salvatores who is known for his Oscar foreign-language film Mediterraneo in 1991. Recently, Gabriele Salvatores has helmed the teen superhero franchise The Invisible Boy. His latest film Volare is based on the translated bestseller by Fulvio Ervas, which was inspired by a true story, where the story is about a boozing lounge singer, Willi played by the famous Claudio Santamaria, who accidentally intersects with his teen son, whom he has never met.
The Story of Volare
Willi has an epiphany and decides to hit the road with his son; Vincent played by Giulio Pronno, whom then they are chased by the boy’s mother, Elisa played by Valeria Golino, and his stepfather, Mario played by Diego Abatantuno who also starred in Mediterraneo. Gabriele Salvatores said to Variety that he wants to return to creating more road movie genres. He said that a road movie could be about anything, but there is one thing they all have in common, it is not about where the story goes, but how it gets there. For him, Volare is a return of a type of cinema where the plot is essential, but what is more important are the dynamics between characters.
For Volare, Salvatores has worked again with Umberto Contarello who is considered to have wacky creativity which is perfect for a free-flowing narrative structure like a road movie. It was his idea of creating a character that is a father who doesn’t know anything about his son, so they discover each other during the journey.
Volare is a film that may delight many and maybe disappoint a few because it is romantically heavy. What makes it so different is that it is sentimental and avoids the pitfalls of political correctness in every way. The film is set in the 90s, and it will offer its audience a refreshing experience. Here you meet characters who immediately appear familiar, and we would like to be with them.
Italy’s Finest Actors
In this movie, Italy’s finest actors are Santamaria and Golino. In this film, Santamaria excels in every scene he is in. Santamaria is known for his appearance in the Bond film Casino Royale, where he played as Carlos an employee of Le Chiffre, the movie’s antagonist. However, Claudio Santamaria got his leading role in Jeeg Robot, a thrilling chase movie that has a Tarantino touch. Besides, there is no surprise to catch Santamaria starring in one of Quentin’s future films.
Meanwhile, Valeria Golino has an impressive CV herself. In 1985 she won the Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for A Tale of Love. In Hollywood, she gained a starring role in Rain Man, which is ironically another road movie genre with a similar plot of Volare. In Rain Man, Valeria plays the role of Susanna, who is the girlfriend of the main character, Charlie, played by Tom Cruise.
The only difference between Volare and Rain Man is that the film centres around the relationship between two brothers who were unaware of each other. Eventually, the story of Rain Man progressed towards going to Las Vegas, where Charlie wanted to cover a debt by playing blackjack at the casino.
Last Words
No wonder Gabriele Salvatores is interested in the road movie genre, when we see one of them, it is impossible not to be captured by their stories. A road movie is any film that is centred around a road trip, usually by an automobile where one or more characters travel great distances to fulfil a goal. What makes this genre interesting is that along the way, the characters usually face conflict with each other and their surroundings while they experience growth and development.
Suppose you are into this type of movie genre. In that case, you will like Volare; even if it is in a foreign language, the film will attract you because it has the potential of mishaps in travelling in unfamiliar territory, which means that road movies can lend themselves to comedic stories. Absurd transportations and confrontation issues between the different characters that go together have been featured in classic comedies like Midnight Run (1988) and Dumb & Dumber (1994).
Other genres that crossed over with road movies that include action is Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), horror Joy Ride (2001), film noir The Hitch-Hiker (1953) and superhero Logan (2017). Also, even fantasy films like Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit feature elements of a road movie, because they depict character-changing journeys.
