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The Taste of Tea

Directed by Katsuhito Ishii
Film Movement Classics
2004
143 Minutes
Japan
Japanese
Comedy, Fantasy, Asian, Classics
Film Studies, Asian Studies
Not Rated
Library Pricing:
Which pricing is right for me?
DVD $150.00
Blu-ray $150.00
PPR $350.00
DRL $499.00
PPR+DRL $599.00
To submit an order, request a preview screener, or ask a question contact Erin Farrell

The Haruno family makes its way in a small town in rural Japan. Yoshiko is an artist and her husband, Nobuo, is a hypnotist. Their son, Hajime, has fallen in love with a girl at school, while his sister, Sachiko, is seeing bizarre visions, usually her own gigantic doppelganger following her through town, a specter she's convinced will go away if only she can pull off a perfect backflip. Presented in a new HD master supervised by the director.

Cast

  • Takahiro Sato
  • Maya Sakano
  • Tadanobu Asano
  • Satomi Tezuka
  • Tatsuya Gashuin
  • Anna Tsuchiya
  • Tomoko Nakajima
  • Tomokazu Miura
  • Highest Rating
    "Patience is often rewarded, and it certainly is by this droll and oddly touching film by Katsuhito Ishii. The movie is a family portrait as painted by a moderately demented Cubist: the family involved is nothing like yours, yet somehow, in its fractured way, exactly like yours."
    Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times
  • Highest Rating
    "The most charming comedy in town, writer-director-editor Katsuhito Ishii's 2004 piece is a modern Japanese variation on You Can't Take It With You, with some lovely fantastical flourishes."
    Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
  • Highest Rating
    "A true delight that elevates feel-good cinema to a whole new level and charms from start to finish."
    Niels Matthijs, Screen Anarchy
  • Highest Rating
    "'Weird but cool,' as one character says -- yet the movie is also remarkably touching."
    Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
  • Highest Rating
    "The imagery is joyous, delightfully imaginative, serene and beautiful, and ultimately enchanting."
    Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  • Highest Rating
    "Ishii's domestic frame is as tightly packed and layered as his horizons are expansive."
    Michelle Orange, Village Voice
  • Highest Rating
    "Touching and funny, with charming performances."
    V.A. Musetto, New York Post
  • Highest Rating
    "A messy, heartfelt entanglement of tangential indulgences into the wild eccentricities of human behavior."
    Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine

Gallery

Awards & Recognition

Winner
Audience Award
New York Asian Film Festival
Winner
Best New Actress and Supporting Actor
Blue Ribbon Awards
Winner
Best Asian Film
Fantasia Film Festival
Winner
Golden Maile Award
Hawaii Int'l. Film Festival
Winner
Netpac Award
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Nominated
SACD Prize
Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection
Sitges Film Festival
Official Selection
Karlovy Vary Int'l. Film Festival
Official Selection
Chicago Int'l. Film Festival