The Taste of Tea (2004)

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.

I watched this film as part of a sort of "move binge" I was having and as such the true beauty of the film was somewhat dulled in my mind as I went directly from watching one movie, to watching it, to watching another. However, after reflecting on it and then watching it a second time I really can say that this movie is quite good. As many others that have commented have mentioned, it's not particularly "exciting" in a traditional movie sense; but the aesthetic quality of the scenes, along with the superb acting job done by the main characters and the creativity of the story make it a very good film. The reason I chose to watch the film in the first place was largely due to the fact that I'm a big Tadanobu Asano fan and I saw he was in it. He isn't really that major of a character in the movie (no one really is) so don't expect any kind of outstanding performance from him. Don't get me wrong, he plays his role very well, but everyone's role in the film is somewhat muted, as that is the overall mood of the film in a way.

Before seeing this film, i had not read anything about it. I just saw the poster and thought it was a nice slow film with theme's and an interesting subtle plot.The movie has GREAT images, and GREAT scene's in it. i was immediately taken by it. But, after 1 hour, still NOTHING happened. And that's exactly the weakness of this film. We had break halfway trough the film. My girlfriend and i had a drink and we listened to other people chatting about the film. someone said: "Finally a movie that makes you think!" and "very, very moving".It's so typical that people say this. Acting all smart and insinuating that they see all kinds of theme's and symbols. But this movie does NOT have symbols, and the only theme is: daily life. because it leaves you with nothing to think about. Everything get's explained throughout the movie; after a scene ends so does that little story. No tension is build whatsoever, and no plot is introduced. Just a family with "normal" lives. The film has some great moment where an interesting development could have happened, but no development worth mentioning happens. So walking out of the theater in the middle of the movie leaves you with the same feeling as walking out at the end of the movie. The movie has nothing to say.But the images and a lot of those short scene's make up for that: Slow camera movement from great angles, great use of color and contrast. The best way to watch it is to view a couple of scene when you have nothing better to do. You can walk in and out of this movie without missing a thing...

When watching this film (which everyone should), try not to take it too seriously. Try not to search for some elaborate plot. Just sit back, open your eyes, and enjoy the sights on screen. I promise you, if you enjoy expanding your horizons looking at images of art, then this film is for you.I found that in this film, if you were to freeze frame it at any point, you could post up the image in an art gallery as a work of art. It is not just the beautiful cinematography, but the complex, wondrous, awe-inspiring images that are put on screen that make this movie so good.On top of all that we have a collection of characters who are, themselves, pieces of art, whose idiosyncrasies and hilarity will have you amused from start to finish. Don't take them too seriously and don't try to look too deep for any hidden meanings. Take them for what they are and the things they make you think about.A truly great film, recommended for all.