nick-1896 I tracked this movie down after watching Survive Style Five - which I discovered by accident. Why these films aren't more popular is beyond me. Certainly in New Zealand, they were very hard to find - but well worth it. Katshuhito Ishii is a genius - as a writer, a director and editor. His mind obviously works on a different plane. Often his stories seem completely random but as things progress, you find they knit together to form a complete story. His work is like nothing I've seen in Western cinema, it feels completely fresh, you never know what will happen next. The characters can be quite wild, but they all have elements you can empathize with. The artdirection also swings from everyday to insane. And somehow it all comes together to form a totally entertaining, complete whole. While some scenes are surreal (to say the least) there's always a humanistic element and interest. If you want something different, if you're tired of the formulaic garbage the Hollywood marketing machine churns out, try Taste of Tea or Survive Style. They put a new spin on real emotion. They're definitely worth tracking down.

beenacontender Family movies. I’m not talking about the Disney or Pixar variety but the family ensemble film, depicting the various lives of an often eccentric clan from the inside out. While Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander” and Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Stories” are hailed as the standards, Katsuhito Ishii provides his take on the genre with a most accessible and surprising piece of cinema: “The Taste of Tea.” Probably best known in the U.S. as the guest director of the anime segment in Kill Bill vol.1, Ishii has written and directed films (“Party 7” and “Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl”) that feature outrageous gangsters influenced by Tarantino, Japanese Manga and Anime, and the Hong Kong gun-fu flicksYou can imagine the level of expectations Ishii encountered when he introduced “The Taste of Tea” to the unsuspecting public – all low - whether you were familiar with his work or underwhlemed by the title. Ishii reveals in his third movie outing that he has grown as a filmmaker and much like the clichéd franchise films of the ‘80s – this time it’s personal.We are introduced to the Haruno family, living pastoral lives in their cozy, open-air home in the country. But underneath the placid surface each member of the family faces their own demons.Teenage son Hajime (a hilarious Takahiro Sato) takes the Jason Biggs role of the obsessive, horny Romeo who longs for love as seen with his frequent pillow and blanket dry-humping.Mother (Satomi Tezuka) runs the household while working on her dream Anime epic.Father (Tomokazu Miura) fights the malaise of work by using his hypnotherapy skills on his family.Grandad (Tatsuya Gashuin) provides the non-stop laughs at the expense of his unibrow, his childlike quirkiness, his tendency to sing about whatever he sees, and unfortunately his senility. The restless uncle (The Japanese Johnny Depp - Tadanobu Asano) is a talented record producer who somehow is sidetracked by a lack of closure in his life.Finally, little Sachiko (an adorable Maya Banno)cannot concentrate at school or home because of a bizarre recurring haunting: a gigantic 60-foot image of herself.Immediately we’re brought into Ishii’s surreal world with David Lynch (“Twin Peaks”) / Pierre Jeunet (“Amelie”) visuals that add to the inner conflicts of each family member. And love is what you’ll feel for the characters that you’ll come to know. Ishii never has to rely on melodrama to get us to sympathize with their individual plights. It’s all in the details. You hope against reason that they can all achieve their dreams. Not because they’re so wacky, so eccentric, or even lovable, but as strange as these characters are Ishii reveals a humbling moment which brings the character back to earth and into our hearts. See the movie with someone you really care for.

marta2046 A truly unique vision of a whimsical, funny and gently-demented family. The actors do a wonderful job in fleshing out the quirky characters so that they are never cartoons.The cinematography is fascinating-- sometimes simply beautiful; other times, bizarre. And sometimes the perspectives are distorted just enough so things take on a surreal appearance but you don't exactly know why.This a character-driven story without a whole lot of plot. If you need a complex storyline, you may be bored, but if you like stories which reveal the inner life of a creative family, this is the film to see.

Mab890 Note: I am your classic American teenager, I love violent movies. So naturally I was one to show reluctance when a friend suggested that we go see this movie at the NYC underground Asian film festival. Needless to say from my summary I was not disappointed.The first thing to say is I can not think of any other movie that is anything like this movie and although I did insult myself before I have quite good taste in movie and by violence I was more or less leaning towards Pulp Fiction and Clockwork Orange. A taste of tea is simply about a family. Each character in the family has a little conflict, and as any movie the conflict attempts to be resolved as the movie goes on. They aren't eccentric conflicts at first glance, but as the movie continues the complexity grows. Their stories are not very intertwined except for the fact that it is all the same family. Nevertheless there are moments that want to bring you to tears.Despite all this I would not call the movie sappy to the least bit. The movie is full of crazy imagery and at the same time is quite comical. To say the least its light hearted. But during countless scenes the audience would burst out in laughter.To finish up, this movie is an absolute must see. Find it, buy it, rent it, watch it. In an age where it is almost impossible to find a good movie I am surprised that this movie did not surface long ago.