CountZero313 Ishi's whimsical, playful take on rural Japanese family life veers from the banal to the surreal. It is an episodic look at the quirks of various family members, but not family life, because each character lives in their own little bubble mysteriously alienated from those around them. There is very little interaction between family members, or anyone else for that matter. Ideas are introduced - Hajime's first love is delicious and hell, Sachiko needs to get her bar skills up, Grandpa had a secret art project - and then just left to wither like persimmons in the Tochigi sun. The film meanders, but goes nowhere. We finish with a sappy montage of all the characters staring at the same sunset, a pat ending belying the lack of characterization or plot.Yamada's Village of Dreams takes a rural childhood, relates it episodically, to make meaning that resonates universally on themes of nostalgia and loss. This film just whimpers from one slapstick-TV set up to another. Some of the scenes bring a smile to your face, and the photography is flawlessly done, although the one-scene/one-set-up cutting gets a bit monotonous. But you could jumble the scenes in this film in a randomizer and come out with the same amount of meaning and emotional impact. It is all very ho-hum, and drags tediously after the first 90 minutes.As a writer, Ishi seems best suited to short-form comedy, the experimental kind that dominates late-night Japanese TV. This material should never have been cobbled together into a feature film. Lovely visuals, strong performances, but in the end just a lot of wry smiles and bizarre behaviour adding up to nothing.

largu Yes, so I gave "The taste of tea" a full 10 score. It's not something I do lightly, mind you. How come a whimsical, Japanese, slice-of-life flick makes me go to such length? Let me count the ways...Ishii has, as many contemporary Asian directors, shown much promise but never really gone all the way. However, the first time I read about "The taste of tea" I got the feeling that 'this might be the one', and yes, finally, it was.The story revolve around a family with unusual, but not unbelievable people who go about their slightly odd, but not unconvincing lives. It's all a bit like in those "celebration of life" type of movies which were banned during the sixties, or at least moved to Balkan; But slower. Much slower. In a good way. Is that even possible? Yes it is. The younger son in the family is more of the main character than the others but his story is strangely enough the one that touches me the least. His the little sister is far more interesting with her BIG imaginary-friend problem. My favourite of the lot is of course grandpa, an retired animator who spends his time enjoying life and coming up with fantastic songs like "Why are you a triangle?" and "The mountain is alive". "The mountain is alive" has nothing to do with "sound of music" but its performance would still beat Julie Andrews any day, at lest in the eyebrow-bowlcut-polyester-and-pure-style area.And yes, the style... Call it impressionism or magic realism but the heightened visual language actually works here. There are some computer graphics but its made with a big pounding digital heart. Watching "Taste of tea" is like taking a stroll on a nice spring day. Its beautifully executed with charm, wit, soul, and dare I say it... sublimity? It soothes the mind and it even makes me like humanity, something which requires an ever increasingly effort these days. Sure, its not for everyone but since I'm reviewing it now, I call it one of the very few flawless gems out there. Pure bliss.

poe426 I haven't had this much fun watching a movie since I saw MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS. Like the Yamadas, this family has its own... eccentricities... Unlike the Yamadas, several family members here are involved in the manga business. Being an Osamu Tezuka fan (ASTRO BOY, BUDDHA, BLACK JACK, etc.), any "behind-the-scenes" stories featuring manga or the creation thereof are fascinating to me. (Unlike American comic books, which have been around only a century or so, Japanese "ga" have been around literally for ages...) The day-to-day joys and sorrows of this family are whimsical and poignant and- at one point- downright heartrending. Not too far removed from Real Life. The closing montage is breathtaking (it reminded me of an interview I once saw with the composer Kitaro- who did the music for THE SILK ROAD- who, when asked wherefrom came his inspiration, led the interviewer to a swing erected atop a mountain where he could sit and watch the sun set: his reply was simply to point to the setting sun). THE TASTE OF TEA is a most beautiful movie. See it and see for yourself.

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.