Review: So I have a little confession to make. I thought Ishii’s FUNKY FOREST was a mess of a film. Some parts were pure genius while others really lacked substance. I will be honest I went in expecting SURVIVE STYLE 5+ flavor and came out with a bad taste in my mouth. At the time I caught the film I had yet to see anything by Ishii aside from his animated work on KILL BILL and his Grasshoppa! shorts material (like the brilliant creation known as HAL and BONS). I caught a few minutes of THE TASTE OF TEA but never sat down to watch the film as a whole even though everyone who caught their eyes on the film could not stop speaking wonders of the picture. It really wasn’t because I didn’t want to watch it. It was more just a since of laziness. I kept on watching the first 10 minutes and then drift off into something else. It happens. We have all done it before. Then a week ago it happened. I flopped the dvd into my player and I went to town. All 143 minutes in one sitting. I finally got past the first 10 minutes and what a swell decision that was.

THE TASTE OF TEA is quite honestly a near perfect film, really. It is the type of film that comes along unfortunately far too rarely. There comes a time when a filmmaker takes just enough quirkiness from a far off place and just forms one hell of a flawless film. Wes Anderson’s films are the closest things, in the states, to this type of offbeat perfection. In Japan, this level of pitch perfect eccentricity happens but once every so often. PING PONG and the above-mentioned SURIVE STYLE 5+ are about the only ones to come close. Not unlike that of Anderson’s The LIFE AQUATIC, this film uses CG effects in such a way that it never seems redundant. After all, the film follows a few days in life of the Haruno family, one rather odd but lovable bunch that seems to experience life a tad bit different than everyone else.

The actors single-handedly raise this film above the rest. For starters the film stars Tadanobu Asano in a supporting role as the uncle of the family. What hasn’t already been said about this extraordinary actor? The man is one of a kind. I know people make this comparison time after time but I will say it for the one-hundredth time; Asano is to Japanese cinema as Johnny Depp used to be to American indies. Each role he plays is truly unconventional in every form of the word. But let’s not take anything away from the rest of the cast. The son, mother and father all stand out as one of the most oft-kilt families every caught on film. However, the little girl (Maya Banno) and the grandfather (Tatsuya Gashuin) are utterly the crowning jewels of the film. Let’s be honest. Most of the time child actors can be downright annoying. Banno, however, has so much charm and is so damn adorable that you can’t wait to see what she does next. The same can be said about the 57-year-old Tatsuya Gashuin who was aged with perfection to play the kooky grandpa. I really don’t believe you have seen a character so out there in any such film until now and he truly is a joy to watch.

Director Katsushito Ishii is in a league of his own. After viewing this film I really want to go watch FUNKY FOREST again not to mention dig up my unwatched copy of SHARK SKIN MAN AND PEACH GIRL (PARTY 7 however, I am holding off, waiting patiently for the inevitable Synapse Films release set for the not so distant future). If you have ever seen the HAL & BONS shorts courtesy of Grasshoppa! (a bi-monthly digital magazine featuring a collection of experimental short films) you already know that the man has a captivating appreciation of humor. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this some 4 years ago while visiting family in Japan. Oddly, enough I had no idea Ishii was involved until several years later. His perception of a humorous gag is different than the common folk. It is often times unconventional which may lead to some people believe it to be off-key (possibly like my experience with FUNKY FOREST). Therefore, a simple joke may cause one person to laugh hysterically while others may find themselves lost in confusion.

Nonetheless, THE TASTE OF TEA does an unprecedented deed at creating a since of love and warmth in this nutcase of a family and draws the majority of the laughs from their interaction with one another. Ishii does something rare with this film. He creates characters so interesting and intriguing that you wish the film was even longer than its already epic running time. The film leaves you wanting to learn even more about their lives. That, my friend, is something special.