The Taste of Tea

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.

*Directors’ Fortnight – Cannes Film Festival 2004