Screening times:
Friday, May 1, 6:30 PM

Katsuhito Ishii | Japan | 2004 | 143m
Japanese with English subtitles

The pristine image of the Japanese family is turned on its uber-polite head with surreal aplomb in this far out collection of hilarious vignettes. Set in the languid countryside, mom is an eccentric artist who eschews household chores for an animation project with occasional help from crazy grandpa. Meanwhile dad is just your everyday hypnotherapist. Their teenaged son suffers from hangups about the opposite sex while his little sister must contend with a doppelganger. Uncle is a groovy music producer on a respite whose ghostly past experiences still haunt him.

Maverick director Katsuhito Ishii (who created the animated sequence in Kill Bill: Volume 1) pulled out all the stops for this endearing outré take on the Japanese psyche. Replete with non-stop irreverent gags, anime digressions, musical numbers and candy-coated lysergic passages, The Taste of Tea is, “a true delight that elevates feel-good cinema to a whole new level and charms from start to finish” (Screen Anarchy).

"A messy, heartfelt entanglement of tangential indulgences into the wild eccentricities of human behavior." - Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine

"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." - Michael Philips, Chicago Tribune

Winner: Grand Prix and Audience Award - Entrevues Film Festival, 2004
Winner: Golden Maile Award (Best Feature Film) - Hawaii International Film Festival, 2004

Tickets $12 ($11.40 at the door if available)