Cha no aji (2004)

A spell of time of a rural family's slightly surreal life.

Director:

Katsuhito Ishii

Writer:

Katsuhito Ishii

Stars:

Maya Banno, Takahiro Satô, Tadanobu Asano

16 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Maya Banno	...	Sachiko Haruno - daughter
Takahiro Satô	...	Hajime Haruno - son
Tadanobu Asano	...	Ayano Haruno - uncle
Satomi Tezuka	...	Yoshiko Haruno - mother
Tatsuya Gashûin	...	Akira Todoroki - grandpa
Tomoko Nakajima	...	Akira Terako
Ikki Todoroki	...	Self
Tomokazu Miura	...	Nobuo Haruno - father
Anna Tsuchiya	...	Aoi Suzuishi
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saki Aibu	...	Hotaru
Hideaki Anno	...	Kasugabe
Keisuke Horibe	...	Man in Noodle Shop
Ryô Kase	...	Rokutaro Hamadayama - Cosplayer
Rinko Kikuchi	...	Waitress At Noodle Shop (as Yuriko Kikuchi)
Kirin Kin	...	Grandma

Storyline

A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.

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Plot Keywords:

yakuza | tattoo | big head | bowel movement | toilet humor | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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User Reviews

A must see movie!

Note: I am your classic American teenager, I love violent movies. So naturally I was one to show reluctance when a friend suggested that we go see this movie at the NYC underground Asian film festival. Needless to say from my summary I was not disappointed.

The first thing to say is I can not think of any other movie that is anything like this movie and although I did insult myself before I have quite good taste in movie and by violence I was more or less leaning towards Pulp Fiction and Clockwork Orange. A taste of tea is simply about a family. Each character in the family has a little conflict, and as any movie the conflict attempts to be resolved as the movie goes on. They aren't eccentric conflicts at first glance, but as the movie continues the complexity grows. Their stories are not very intertwined except for the fact that it is all the same family. Nevertheless there are moments that want to bring you to tears.

Despite all this I would not call the movie sappy to the least bit. The movie is full of crazy imagery and at the same time is quite comical. To say the least its light hearted. But during countless scenes the audience would burst out in laughter.

To finish up, this movie is an absolute must see. Find it, buy it, rent it, watch it. In an age where it is almost impossible to find a good movie I am surprised that this movie did not surface long ago.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official Site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 April 2005 (France)

Also Known As:

Cha no aji

Filming Locations:

Tochigi, Japan

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,324

Company Credits

Production Co:

AOI Promotion, Grasshoppa

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1