Everybody's Fine(1990)

There was always something to like about the great Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, whatever role he assumed, as he always brought great humanity and depth to his character.  Here he is a old widower who regrets that his children never visit and never come together, so he leaves his home in Sicily to visit (unannounced) the five cities on the mainland where his grown children now live to try to understand their achievements and their ways of life.  Like other films in this genre (think back to "Tokyo Story"), his children are wrapped up in their own problems and would rather lie to him than to admit any failure.  He still visualizes them as the youngsters they were and has a recurrent nightmare of a black cloud carrying them away; in fact they have gone away from him.  He can never really accept this and visits his wife's grave on his return home to tell her about his adventures and about how well his family is doing.  The film was charming because of the lead, but also deeply sad.