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Cha no aji, (The Taste of Tea)

Cha no aji, (The Taste of Tea) (2004)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 0

No consensus yet.

audience

87

liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 1,567

My Rating

Movie Info

Filmmaker Katsuhito Ishii takes a break from the post-Tarantino excess of such highly-stylized outings as Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl for this low-key look at an eccentric family residing in a quiet countryside town just north of Tokyo. The Haruno family is a five-piece clan living the simple life in Japan. The summer sun shining gently down, this quiet quintet is transformed into a six-piece when urban-dwelling uncle Ayano (Tadanobu Asano), a successful music producer, arrives to visit

Feb 20, 2007

Cast

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All Critics (15) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (0)

Quirky with a capital Q...

October 5, 2007 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film could easily lose a half-hour, but it rewards with a promise that there are unexpected marvels in the world and moments of real grace.

April 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
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'Weird but cool,' as one character says -- yet the movie is also remarkably touching.

March 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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The most charming comedy in town, writer-director-editor Katsuhito Ishii's 2003 piece is a modern Japanese variation on You Can't Take It With You, with some lovely fantastical flourishes.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A description someone gives of a song involved in one of the film's many detours neatly summarizes the movie itself: 'It's more cool than weird, and it stays in your head.'

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A tad too long, Tea is nevertheless touching and funny, with charming performances. You might say it's as calming as a hot cup of green tea.

February 23, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Post
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I'm haunted by its whimsical surreality -- and by it's startling conclusion.

May 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Looking Closer
Looking Closer

The title is well-suited for an Ozu film.

September 30, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The imagery is joyous, delightfully imaginative, serene and beautiful, and ultimately enchanting.

April 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A messy, heartfelt entanglement of tangential indulgences into the wild eccentricities of human behavior.

March 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

...a film that celebrates the small joys of life, and it does so in a way that's both engaging and understated.

March 2, 2007
Reel.com

pure pleasure

February 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Audience Reviews for Cha no aji, (The Taste of Tea)

Very enjoyable, I'm a sucker for weird Japanese movies with weird characters; the old gramps was hilarious n_n
I liked the surrealistic edge. I'm glad I finally got to see it!
August 25, 2008
Saxia

Super Reviewer

Contrary to those Oscar-heralded pieces of garbage, this is a movie that doesn't structure its characters into the confines of a narrative pie chart and doesn't treat these individual experiences as manipulated moments for the audience to laugh at, but as a collective recollection we can all fondly recall as at least partially our own. Too many films falsely pretend that people aren't inherently weird. Here, that quality is the one most celebrated.
August 19, 2008
DrBenway
El Hombre Invisible

Super Reviewer

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