FACETS CINÉMATHÈQUE
March 2007
The Facets Cinémathèque is located at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago. For more information on films playing in the Cinémathèque, please call 773-281-4114. To order advance tickets online, visit the TicketWeb website by clicking here.
Chicago Theatrical
Premiere
THE TASTE OF TEA
(Cha No Aji)
"Masking a very unconventional movie under a totally conventional title.this is a movie with no boundaries to its imagination."
-Variety
"Ishii, best known here for his anime segment in
Kill Bill Vol. 1, has the live-action patience and light touch of Rohmer, garlicked up with a buoying sense of acceptable absurdity."
-Village Voice
"Japan's answer to Jacques Tati"
-Time Out NY

½ "Beguiling"
-Chicago Tribune
Critic's Choice! "Remarkably touching"
-Chicago Reader
Meet the Harunos, a rather unconventional, but happy and loving family nonetheless. They live in a small town in the mountains just out of Tokyo where life is good and quiet - but that doesn't mean they don't have their own little problems. As 8-year old Sachiko (Maya Banno) tries to get rid of a giant version of herself who seems to pop up everywhere, her older brother Hajime (Takahiro Sato), privately wrestles with his love-struck heart. Meanwhile, their mother Yoshiko (Satomi Tezuka) is working hard, coming out of retirement as an animator, as her husband and professional hypnotist Nobuo (Tomokazu Miura) watches on with slight apprehension. Yoshiko's brother, Ayano (Tadanobu Asano) is just visiting his hometown and staying with the family, but also has a hidden agenda; he needs to come to terms with a romance that ended years ago. Even Nobuo's brother and successful manga artist Todoroki has his problems. It's his birthday soon and he wants to give himself something special. And lastly there's Grandpa, the most bizarre and perhaps the most perceptive of all, who continues to search for a better way to live life to the fullest. Written, directed and edited by Katsuhito Ishii,
The Taste of Tea is a unique and gentle family portrait tackling the universal themes of time, people and their lives.
Directed by Katsuhito Ishii, Japan, 2003, 35mm, 143 mins. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Director interview
Time Out NY
New York Times
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Reader
Showtimes:
Fri., March 2 at 6:30 & 9 pm
Sat.- Sun., March 3-4 at 4, 6:30 & 9 pm
Mon. - Thurs., March 5-8 at 6:30 & 9 pm
Tickets: