The Meaning of Tea (2008) Documentary Review

Tea is what you make of it

I got this DVD yesterday in the mail. The film went around the world from India, Japan, Asia, Morocco, England, France, and even Tea, South Dakota to film people talking about tea. The film was a little dry. I think the director Scott Chamberlin Hoyt didn’t want to say too much in the film and let the audience draw their own conclusions about the film with the imagery. However, I think in this process they missed a lot of important footage. I wish it would have went more into depth behind the history of the people they interviewed and who they were. It seems they were just interviewing random interesting people who worked with tea whenever they could and when they couldn’t, people off the streets. My favourite parts I think that actually made this DVD worth purchasing was the behind the scenes bits and pieces. The best one I think being the segment called Tea People where different people got to tell their story and how their lives have and are affected by tea. There was a french artist Pierre Sernet dressed up in traditional Japanese garments that was performing a tea ceremony in the MIDDLE OF TIMES SQUARE. That was awesome! He does this all around the world in different environments ranging from museums to the beach to the airport. In one scene there is a group of motorcyclists dressed in black leather with the American flag flapping behind them watching Pierre doing the tea ceremony on the sidewalk. You can clearly see their thought bubbles going “what the hell?”. Tea itself is dead. It is the people, the history and the traditions that make it so rich and interesting. They missed capturing much of this by cutting out vital pieces of film and leaving the best footage to be discovered in the “extras”. Overall I rate this DVD 3/5 cups of tea.

You can watch the trailer below.

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