An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their children and are confronted by indifference, ingratitude and selfishness. When the parents are packed off to a resort by their impatient children, the film deepens into an unbearably moving meditation on mortality.
Probably the most depressing film from the "Noriko Trilogy" (LATE SPRING, EARLY SUMMER and TOKYO STORY). What I love about these three films is the way the cast is able to stay intact over a 4 year span. The story works well as a study of the country life vs. the city life or the older generation vs. the younger generation (it works as both).
Warning, Spoiler:
What I find most disturbing about this film is the character of Noriko, portrayed by Setsuko Hara, cares the most about this couple and they're not even her birth parents. They're her in-laws. The kids are all shelfish and can't take a day or more off of work to entertain their folks while their in town. First of all, the parents live in the country and the trip to Tokyo is very grueling, particularly for an elderly couple. They nonetheless make the journey and are pawned off by their children to Noriko and anyone else who'll basically take them off of their hands. What's even more unfortunate is the fact that it takes the mothers funeral to bring them together as a family for a very brief moment. After which, and before they return to Tokyo, the kids are going through the mothers possessions, trying to get their hands on the items they want. A truly unfortunate story and I feel for the old man who is now left alone to take care of himself. It just makes me fortunate enough to have a better relationship with my parents than these characters did.
