Volare 2019

Vincent, a sixteen-year-old Autistic boy, grows up with difficulty under the care of his mother Elena and her husband, Mario, who adopt him. One evening, Willy, the boy’s biological father, known as the Modugno of Dalmatia, after a concert and heavy intoxication, slips into Elena and Mario’s house, where Elena greets him with a cutting remark, calling him “the shit.” Awakened by his mother’s anguished screams, Vincent overhears the heated exchange and senses the shock of his father seeing him—realizing that the boy he imagines is not the one who stands before him. In a moment of fury, Elena chases Willy away, leaving a residue of unresolved anger in the air.

The next morning, Vincent is gone. He had hidden underneath a tarp in the bed of his father’s pickup truck, and Willy, unaware of his hidden passenger, leaves the tour stops where he was scheduled to perform. They pause for a simple meal, and it becomes clear that Vincent’s cravings are small and particular—he only wants potatoes. When his father attempts to reach out, Vincent responds with an almost automatic declaration of his identity:

Vincent Masato, born in Trieste on July 13, 2003, to Elena Masato, adopted by Mr. Mario Topoli, your name is Willy boy and you’re my dad.

That abrupt, stark confession stirs a breeze that moves the curtains and ignites something new in Willy. What follows is a string of unfolding events that test and reshape their fragile bond: their car breaks down, they buy a motorcycle and suffer a crash, they experience their first sense of intimacy, and they undertake an illegal border crossing because Vincent has no documents. Through these intense days, the two of them learn to lean on each other, discovering a growing, if imperfect, father‑son connection that survives through fear, confusion, and an emergent trust.

Meanwhile, Elena and Mario, driven by worry and determination, search frantically for them. Their pursuit leads to a climactic moment when they finally locate the pair—half-asleep, cradled in inflatable chairs in a pool at a wedding party where Willy had once sung—an image that blends relief with a tentative sense of closure and renewed hope for what their family might become.