Boy trying to reunite with his parents, travelling alone through Italy, during war

An [english] boy travelling alone through Italy to reunite with his mother, during World War Two.
His father is an aircraft pilot, and he left to fight in the war.
During his travel the boy goes through mountains at some stage of his journey. He meets an old lady (in Switzerland?) who offers him shelter, and even to adopt him. The actress playing the old lady is someone famous, unfortunatelly, I can’t recall her name. Someone like Gena Rowlands, but it’s not her.
But the boy continues the journey. He travels in a truck for a while, whose driver accept to offer him a ride.
The boy finds his mother in the end, and I think the father returns safely from the war.
The movie must be from around 2000 (maybe 1995 til 2010).