Cha no aji (2004)

Director:

Katsuhito Ishii

Writer:

Katsuhito Ishii (writer)

Release Date:

20 April 2005 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

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...

Plot Keywords:

Sunset | Drink In Title | Woods | Sound Man | Ghost

Awards:

13 wins

Cast

Maya Banno	...	Sachiko Haruno - daughter
Takahiro Sato	...	Hajime Haruno - son
Tadanobu Asano	...	Ayano Haruno - uncle
Satomi Tezuka	...	Yoshiko Haruno - mother
Tatsuya Gashuin	...	Akira Todoroki - grandpa
Tomoko Nakajima	...	Akira Terako
Ikki Todoroki	...	Himself
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
Ryo Kase	...	Rokutaro Hamadayama
Rinko Kikuchi		(as Yuriko Kikuchi)
Kirin Kin	...	Grandma
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi	...	Projectionist
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	Young Man in Red T-Shirt
Shunichiro Miki
Kenji Mizuhashi	...	Maki Hoshino
Ryû Morioka
Yoshiyuki Morishita
Kaiji Moriyama	...	Dancer
Yûka Nomura	...	Woman in Noodle Shop
Yoshinori Okada	...	Omiya
Machiko Ono	...	CM Teacher
Daigaku Sekine	...	Detective
Kotaro Shiga
Issei Takahashi	...	Chairman of Go Club
Shinji Takeda	...	CM Director
Seiji Tanaka	...	CM Director
Yôji Tanaka
Susumu Terajima	...	Tattooed Man
Emi Wakui	...	Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

The Taste of Tea (International: English title)

Runtime:

143 min | France:143 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Argentina:143 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Netherlands:MG6 | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:12

Company:

Aoi Promotion

In its own class

Wow, I just got finished watching this fantastic flick and I gotta say, it's well worth seeking out. Because of the comic book nihilism of his first two films, Ishii perhaps has been unfairly lumped in with the Tarantino-wannabe crowd. But Cha no Aji is sure to show those critics another side of a very talented director.

While I'm a fan of all three films, I think this movie is Ishii's best to date. It's got his trademark eccentric characters and meandering plot lines, but here he takes his flights of creative fancy to new heights. In categorizing this film, if that is indeed possible, I am reminded of the whimsical let-it-fly-ish-ness of Juzo Itami's more playful works.

Cha no Aji brings you in to the world of an unusually quirky family, whose actions at first seem not of this world. Before you are able to ask yourself what the hell is going, you're drawn in, following several strange story lines, which are just as out there as they are touching and human. Before you know it, the characters become a part of you and you're finding a little bit of yourself within each one. Yes, even the seemingly senile grandpa. (Just wait, you'll see.) This movie hits on many levels. It's touching. Hilarious. Bizarre (at times almost in a Hausu kinda way). Pregnant with ideas. And most importantly... inspired!

To top it off, the soundtrack is provided by the most excellent soca-flavored dub band Little Tempo, who have an impressive discography and are well worth checking out if good honest dub is your thing.

What a movie!