All Of Life: "The Taste of Tea"
It's hard to believe it's been over five months since our last Working Room screening. I've really missed gathering together to watch movies on the wall, and I'm excited for what feels like the start of a new chapter in our viewing experience.
Over our time apart, I’ve been contemplating what kinds of movies I want to open the space to going forward. The idea of the ‘watch club’ (ie the substack name) came from a very short lived covid project based on are.na, but the notion of a club is something that I want to have at the heart of Working Room screenings—fostering a sense of community, shared exploration, and deeper engagement with the films we experience together. In my reflection, I arrived at the idea of organizing thematic series that build upon each other in conversation.
A lot of my reflection has led me back to the question: what makes a movie really resonate with me? You know that feeling when you watch something and think, that’s it—the lingering sensation, the thread that keeps circling back. For me, I landed on: all of life. Films that, either separately or in harmony, capture the many phases of existence. These are the movies that, in some way, touch on what it means to be human for me.
There are many movies that I hope to share under the all of life umbrella, but one I’ve been eager to watch together is The Taste of Tea.
Directed by Katsuhito Ishii, The Taste of Tea (2004) follows the Haruno family in the rural countryside north of Tokyo. A steady hypnotherapist father, a quiet teenage boy with a crush, an animator mom, a quirky grandfather, a music producer uncle with stories, and an imaginative eight-year-old facing her fears. Simultaneously absurd and heartwarming, the film weaves together each family member's story as they navigate their current stage of life and find their personal sense of peace.
This movie is just special. I generally have an affection for Japanese movies of the late 90s / early 2000s for their dream-like and calming atmospheres and contemplations on life, but there is something that captivated me about The Taste of Tea in a way that I wasn’t expecting. While the film made me reflect on questions of family and being human, it also gave me immense joy with its laugh out loud oddities and surreal stylistic insertions. I really admire when a movie is able to make you feel deeply while also being incredibly silly and endearing. A reminder that we don’t have to be completely devastated to connect with the intensity of life. Magic.
I’ve created a suggestion box where you can anonymously (though feel free to include your name, if you wish) contribute movies, media, questions, ideas, readings, etc. that align with the all of life theme as it resonates with you. Through this, I hope to compile a collective syllabus to reference and archive. I’m specifically interested in writing and short films that speak to the theme of all of life, as I’d love future screenings to include preludes to help expand our conversations. There will be suggestion boxes for other themes as we build them out.
We’ll be showing The Taste of Tea this Thursday, October 3rd. Doors will open at 7 PM and the movie will begin promptly at 8:00! To help with expectations regarding attendance, I’ve created an RSVP form that we’ll use going forward. It is not required if you get inspired to show up last minute, but it is really appreciated. Of course, we’ll have tea.
So excited,
Liza
PS: For those wondering, I’m awaiting the new bulb for our projector, but did test out the movie last week and it looks great. <3 Also, if you’re an out of town subscriber and want to watch any of the movies that I send out, email me and I’ll help locate a copy for you.