ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Stephanie
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
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.
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.
VanRippestein
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...
Sat-2
Ishii's first and second films were boisterous, flashy, colorful, and irreverent, but his mastery of editing, sound design, and narrative (not to mention the surprisingly touching romance at the heart of his debut, Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl) suggested that behind all the fireworks is a real genius who truly loves and understands the medium of film, not just a flashy showman using his advertising experience to deliver 90 minutes of pretty looking entertainment. With Ishii's third film, the dreamlike, funny, occasionally absurd, and ultimately mournful Taste of Tea (best feature winner at the 2004 Hawaii International Film Festival) he tones things down a notch from his prior efforts and gets personal, telling the story of a single family rather than an ensemble of oddballs (though the family is admittedly a little weird). The result is wonderful. Touching, hilarious, beautiful, odd, and constantly surprising. If you weren't paying attention during some of the moving and humane "slow" parts of Sharkskin Man, you might be shocked that Taste of Tea is from the same stylish hipster who once told an audience not to treat his first film like a cultural artifact but just to "enjoy the idiots on screen." Like Pierre Jeunet with Amelie, Ishii has demonstrated with Taste of Tea that there's real substance to be found under all that style. Absolutely not to be missed.
