'Tokyo Story'

An extremely sad and frightening story. So harrowing that it makes you want to call up your parents and tell them you love them.

It's about two elderly Japanese parents, who travel to Tokyo to see their children. They're son (a doctor) and daughter (a hairdresser) find themselves too wrapped up in their own lives, jobs and children to pay their parents the attention that they probably expected having come into town.

Instead, the widow of their son, who was killed during World War II, takes them around the town and entertains them. The daughter-in-law is a very respectful and loving person, who accepts her husband's parents as her own.

On their way home, they visit the youngest son. On the trip, the mother falls ill and when they get home, she dies.

The children along with the daughter-in-law travel to the countryside for the mother's last days and finally her funeral. The children sit for a very tense post-funeral meal. As the children chow down, the father seems restless and worried.

They begin talking about stay for a couple of days. Then all of them leaving that day. It only leaves the daughter-in-law and the youngest daughter, Kyoko.

In the final scene, the father gives the daughter-in-law the mother's watch and requests that she remarries and moves on from their son and from them.

It's very sweet. Very sad. On one level, you don't really blame the kids for having their own lives. On the other hand, don't our parents deserve at least the minimal amount of respect and time?