The Taste of Tea

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Movie: The Taste of Tea
Romaji: Cha no Aji
Japanese: 茶の味
Director: Katsuhito Ishii
Writer: Katsuhito Ishii
Producer: Hilo Iizumi, Kazuto Takida, Kazutoshi Wadakura
Cinematographer: Kosuke Matsushima
Release Date: July 17, 2004
Runtime: 143 min.
Production Company: Aoi Advertising Promotion
Distributor: Klock Worx
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot synopsis

The mother, Yoshiko, is an animation artist that tries to resurrect her career while maintaining the daily tasks of her family in a rural setting outside of Tokyo. The father, Nobou, works as a clinical hypnotist. Nabou’s brother Ayano drifts into the family’s life, as he has been drifting through life since the love of his life married someone else. The teenage son, Hajime, struggles with making friends at his high school, while trying to attract the attention of the girl of his dreams. The youngest daughter, Sachiko, is constantly followed by her alter ego that lurks up in the horizon wherever she goes. The grandfather, Akira, helps Yoshio with her animation by posing in various fighting postures, while secretly preparing for his death. The tale of these family members slowly weave together to make the story of the Taste Of Tea.

Cast

Maya Banno - Sachiko Haruno - daughter
Takahiro Sato - Hajime Haruno - son
Tadanobu Asano - Ayano Haruno - uncle
Satomi Tezuka - Yoshiko Haruno - mother
Tatsuya Gashuin - Akira Todoroki - grandpa
Tomoko Nakajima - Akira Terako
Ikki Todoroki - Himself
Tomokazu Miura - Nobuo Haruno - father
Anna Tsuchiya - Aoi Suzuishi
Saki Aibu - Hotaru
Hideaki Anno - Kasugabe
Keisuke Horibe - Man in Noodle Shop
Ryo Kase - Rokutaro Hamadayama
Rinko Kikuchi
Kirin Kin - Grandma
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi - Projectionist
Ken'ichi Matsuyama - Young Man in Red T-Shirt
Shunichiro Miki
Kenji Mizuhashi - Maki Hoshino
Ryu Morioka
Yoshiyuki Morishita
Kaiji Moriyama - Dancer
Yuka Nomura - Woman in Noodle Shop
Yoshinori Okada - Omiya
Machiko Ono
Daigaku Sekine - Detective
Kotaro Shiga
Issei Takahashi - Chairman of Go Club
Shinji Takeda - CM Director
Seiji Tanaka
Yoji Tanaka
Susumu Terajima - Tattooed Man
Emi Wakui - Narrator (voice)
Masaaki Tatsuzawa

Trailer

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Image Gallery

Awards

"Best Newcomer" (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2004 (47th) Blue Ribbon Awards - February 14, 2005

Comments

Comment #1
Ki Says:
Jan 29 2011 10:13 pm

A train protrudes from Hajime's forehead and takes off into the sky, pink colored trees sheds their leaves like a spring snowstorm, and the giant face of little Sachiko appears floating in the sky and this all occurs in the first 10 minutes of the film! Definitely you can tell the Taste Of Tea will not be your typical movie.

As the movie progresses and you become more familiar with the unusual way the story unfolds and you experience the quirkiness of each of the family members, it's nearly impossible not to simply sit back and marvel at what unfolds before your eyes. Similar to the sensations of savoring the flavor of tea on a calm Sunday morning. The film just has an awesome mixture of some of the funniest scenes you will ever see, quietly meditative reflections on daily life, beautiful cinematography set in a tranquil rural area of Japan, and these quirky characters that seem initially like they may have come from another world. Yet, but by the end of the film you can’t help to identify their quirky traits with people in you know in everyday life. The plot really takes a backseat to the characters or let's just say the characters make the plot.

The Taste of Tea is Katsuhito Ishii third film, following “Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl” and “Party 7.” While “Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl” was fun in a Tarentino film noire kind of way and “Party 7″ featured some absolutely unique characters, “The Taste Of Tea” is where Katsuhito Ishii puts it all together and is able to find his own unique voice as a director to be reckoned with. If you’re curious to know what Katsuhito Ishii would do next, then read the review for Funky Forest : The First Contact.

My sole complaint with The Taste of Tea would have been with the film’s 143 minute runtime. If the film was edited to 2 hours or under I think impact of the movie would have been even more resounding. Yet, the long runtime wasn’t a huge issues simply because of the visuals, acting, and storytelling, which were so compelling. The way the stories of the different family members weaved in and out with each other added to the zen like feeling of watching The Taste Of Tea.

If you have the opportunity to watch the Taste Of Tea you should absolutely take advantage of the opportunity to do so. Just try not to fall in love with the Haruno Family, I would bet that you simply can’t.