The Taste of Tea
July 18, 2026
Presented by Grand Illusion Cinema. Maverick director Katsuhito Ishii pulled out all the stops for this endearing outré take on the Japanese psyche, replete with non-stop irreverent gags, anime digressions, musical numbers and candy-coated lysergic passages. Presented via a new HD master supervised by the director.
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SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
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 doppelgänger. Uncle is a groovy music producer on a respite whose ghostly past experiences still haunt him.
“So delightful and strange… one of my favorite films… It reminds me that small, personal acts of creation can still be cosmic.” — Chase Burns, The Stranger
“A character remarks (in regard to what will hopefully amount to a classic musical sequence): ‘It’s more cool than weird, and it stays in your head.’ Perhaps unintentionally, The Taste of Tea encapsulates its own kinky allure in that line of dialogue. As sweet as the lives it celebrates, it’s something to savor time and time again.” — Rob Humanick, Slant
- Director: Katsuhito Ishii
- Principal Cast: Maya Suzuno, Takahiro Sato, Tadanobu Asano, Satomi Tezuka, Tatsuya Gashûin
- Country: Japan
- Year: 2004
- Running Time: 143 min.
- Language: Japanese with English subtitles
- Has Subtitles: Yes