The Taste of Tea

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The Taste of Tea (茶の味 Cha no Aji)
The Taste of Tea poster
Directed by	Katsuhito Ishii
Produced by	Kazuto Takida Kazutoshi Wadakura
Written by	Katsuhito Ishii
Starring	Tadanobu Asano Takahiro Sato Maya Banno Satomi Tezuka Tomokazu Miura Tatsuya Gashuin Anna Tsuchiya Rinko Kikuchi
Music by	Little Tempo
Cinematography	Kosuke Matushima
Editing by	Katsuhito Ishii
Distributed by	Grasshoppa (Japan) Viz Media (USA)
Release date(s)	July 17, 2004
Running time	143 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Taste of Tea (茶の味, Cha no Aji^?) is the third film by Japanese writer and director Katsuhito Ishii. The film has been referred to as a "surreal" version of Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander. It was a selection of the Cannes Film Festival.^[1]

Contents 1 The Haruno Family 2 Cast 3 Awards 4 References 5 Sources 6 External links

[edit] The Haruno Family

The film is concerned with the lives of the Haruno family, who live in rural Tochigi prefecture, the countryside north of Tokyo. Nobuo is busy office worker. In his spare time he is a hypnotherapist who occasionally hypnotizes his family for fun, teaches his son Hajime, Go. Hajime becomes an excellent Go player, but he has a rough time with girls and puberty. Yoshiko refuses to be an average housewife, and works on animated film projects at home. She uses assistance from Grandfather Akira, an eccentric old man who is a former animator and occasional model. Uncle Ayano, a sound engineer and record producer, moves in with the family. He is looking to restart his life again after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko's daughter Sachiko, believes that she is followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself, and searches for ways to rid herself of it.

[edit] Cast

• Tomokazu Miura ... Nobuo Haruno - father
• Satomi Tezuka ... Yoshiko Haruno - mother
• Maya Banno ... Sachiko Haruno - daughter
• Takahiro Sato ... Hajime Haruno - son
• Tadanobu Asano ... Ayano Haruno - uncle
• Tatsuya Gashuin ... Akira Todoroki - grandpa
• Tomoko Nakajima ... Akira Terako
• Ikki Todoroki ... Himself
• Anna Tsuchiya ... Aoi Suzuishi

[edit] Awards

• Audience Award - 2004, Entrevues Film Festival
• Grand Prix - 2004, Entrevues Film Festival
• Best Feature Film - 2004, Hawaii International Film Festival
• Best New Actress (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2004, Hochi Film Awards
• Orient Express Award - 2004, Festival de Cine de Sitges (Special Mention)
• Audience Award - 2005, Dejima Japanese Film Festival
• Best Asian Film - 2005, Fant-Asia Film Festival
• Fantasia Ground-Breaker Award - 2005, Fant-Asia Film Festival (3rd Place)
• Audience Award - 2005, New York Asian Film Festival
• Best New Actress (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2005 Kinema Junpo Awards
• New Talent Award (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2005, Mainichi Film Award
• Festival Prize - 2005, Yokohama Film Festival

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• "茶の味" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2004/eb002810.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-05. 

[edit] External links

Review, Poster and Trailer

• The Taste of Tea
  (茶の味 Cha no Aji) at the Internet Movie Database