is the third film by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

writer and director

Katsuhito Ishii is a Japanese film director best known for directing '' The Taste of Tea'' (2004), '' Funky Forest'' (2005), and ''Smuggler'' (2011). Career After graduating from Musashino Art University, Ishii got a job at Tohokushinsha Film and began dir ...

. It has been referred to as a " surreal" version of

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoun ...

's '' Fanny and Alexander'' (1982). It was a selection of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

Synopsis

The film follows the lives of the Haruno family, who live in rural

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to th ...

, the countryside north of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. Nobuo is a

hypnotherapist Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th ce ...

. He teaches Go to his son Hajime. 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. Eight-year-old Sachiko periodically sees a silent, giant-size double of herself which mimics or benignly watches her. She contemplates ways to rid herself of it. Uncle Ayano is a sound engineer and record producer who comes to stay for a visit. He engages in inward reflection, seeks closure regarding an old relationship, and recounts a childhood experience—a tale that influences Sachiko and ties into later events.

Cast

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed b ...

- Nobuo Haruno - father * Satomi Tezuka - Yoshiko Haruno - mother * Maya Banno - Sachiko Haruno - daughter * Takahiro Sato - Hajime Haruno - son *

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in '' Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in '' Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Ke ...

- Ayano Haruno - uncle *

Tatsuya Gashuin is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Tatsuya can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *達也, "master/accomplished, to be" *達矢, "master/accomplished, arrow" *竜也, "dragon, to be" *竜哉, "d ...

- Akira Todoroki - grandpa *

Tomoko Nakajima is a Japanese actress best known for playing Hotaru Kuroita in the long-running television drama '' Kita no Kuni kara'' ("From a Northern Country"). She won the award for best supporting actress at the 12th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Tugumi''. ...

- Akira Terako *

Ikki Todoroki Ikki may refer to: *''Ikki'', revolts against samurai rule in 15th and 16th century Japan ** Ikkō-ikki, ''ikki'' revolts organized by Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists *** Kaga ikki, an ''Ikkō-ikki'' break-away warrior and peasant confederacy based in Ka ...

- Himself *

Anna Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer, actress and semi-retired model. Since 2005, she is primarily known as a singer.Oricon pr ...

- Aoi Suzuishi *

Kenichi Matsuyama is a Japanese actor. He is known for his affinity for strange character roles, and he is best known internationally for playing L in the 2006 films ''Death Note'', '' Death Note 2: The Last Name'' and '' L: Change the World'' in 2008, as well a ...

- Matsuken/The man in the red shirt *

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

- Kasugabe *

Rinko Kikuchi (born ; January 6, 1981) is a Japanese actress. She was the first Japanese actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 50 years, for her work in '' Babel'' (2006). Kikuchi's other notable films include '' Norwegian Wood'' (2010), which ...

- Yuriko Kikuchi *

Ryo Kase is a Japanese actor. Early life Kase was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. He moved to Bellevue, Washington in the United States soon after his birth, due to his father's job being transferred. He's father Yutaka Kase was former chairman a ...

- Rokutaro Hamadayama *

Kenji Mizuhashi is a Japanese actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films since 1997. Selected filmography Film Television References External links * 1975 births Living people Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Male ...

- Maki Hoshino

Reception

''The Taste of Tea'' has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 77/100

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. It was also one of

Ed Park Ed Park (born 1970 in Buffalo, New York) is an American journalist and novelist. He was the executive editor of Penguin Press. Career Park was a founding editor of the magazine ''The Believer'' in 2003, and has been an editor at the Poetry Founda ...

's choices in the 2012 ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' critics' poll of the greatest films ever made.

Awards

*Audience Award - 2004, Entrevues Film Festival *Grand Prix - 2004, Entrevues Film Festival *Golden Maile Award (Best Feature Film) - 2004,

Hawaii International Film Festival The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii. HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is ...

*Best New Actress (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2004,

Hochi Film Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

*Orient Express Award - 2004,

Festival de Cine de Sitges The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

(Special Mention) *Audience Award - 2005, Dejima Japanese Film Festival *Best Asian Film - 2005,

Fant-Asia Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

*Fantasia Ground-Breaker Award - 2005, Fant-Asia Film Festival (3rd Place) *Audience Award - 2005,

New York Asian Film Festival The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) is a critically acclaimed film festival held in New York City, dedicated to the display of Asian Film Culture. The New York Asian Film Festival generally features contemporary premieres and classic titles ...

*Best New Actress (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2005 Kinema Junpo Awards *New Talent Award (Anna Tsuchiya) - 2005,

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

*Festival Prize - 2005,

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

References

Sources

External links

*
Review, Poster and Trailer
* 2004 films 2000s Japanese-language films Films directed by Katsuhito Ishii New People films Hypnotherapy 2000s Japanese films Films produced by Kazutoshi Wadakura {{2000s-Japan-film-stub