Oh Lucy! is about Setsuko, an office lady who is not as placid and demure as others believe. She is tired of superficially playing the role of the spinster aunt or team player, unexpectedly breaks out of her routine and responds inappropriately and passionately to others. She decides to pursue the catalyst for this change and abruptly takes a vacation with her sister, who believes that the trip has a different purpose. The trip changes her life forever, but not in the way that you may think.
After reading the description for Oh Lucy!, I dismissed it. Josh Hartnett has never been in a solid film that he made soar so while he is not a bad actor, he is not so amazing to be the standalone reason that I’m going to see a mediocre or bad film, especially if a film is laughing at someone and not with them. I was very concerned about the film’s humor hitting a lot of landmines: age, gender, nationality, etc. So when I saw a trailer while watching A Fantastic Woman (finally Oscar got something right), I was reassured that my initial impressions were wrong and decided to look deeper. When I saw that a Japanese woman directed it, I bought a ticket.
I have zero regrets about making this decision, especially after the shocking splash of cold water opening that lets you know that Oh Lucy! is not just going for laughs, but we’re in Kristen Wiig territory—we are going to get really uncomfortable, but still enjoy each moment. This film’s ability to shift moods and depict the messiness of life is never balanced by reassuring the audience with a pat ending, a valuable lesson or a feeling like the main character is going on to bigger and better things. All the characters must still deal with themselves at the end of the day and be able to look in the mirror.
I really responded to Oh Lucy! because I was intrigued by the theme that there are some people like Setsuko who are not allowed to have boundaries or feelings, but when she reciprocates their action or accurately describes what is happening without softening the truth, she is swiftly punished for her violation of the social contract. Because of her age, gender, work and marital status, people don’t see or authentically interact with her. They use her. In the opening scene, she is groped. In the office, people shove things in her pockets, take things from her or ridicule her personal choices. They act like she is invisible. Her sister incessantly criticizes her in order to exonerate herself of any blame for Setsuko’s station in life. The sister may be a factor, but she is not the sole determining one. The niece takes a page from her mother and simply treats her aunt like a mark. Her English teacher shoves things in her mouth. If anyone really saw Setsuko, they would know how she felt about these interactions, but she has to be exponentially more inappropriate for people to hear her, which only explains and does not justify her actions. Afterwards she is often mortified by her conduct.
What makes Oh Lucy! feel more realistic than a film like Hello, My Name is Doris is that while both movies often feel like horror movies where you want to scream at the characters on the screen not to do something, Oh Lucy! never has an acerbic moment that is simplistically triumphant or redeemable. There are always consequences even if you are apologetic. Setsuko may be ready to live fully and rebel against expectations, but not everyone is on board. Actually almost no one is on board, and they act more wounded than she ever did when wronged by them. Unlike Doris, Setsuko isn’t the only person suffering from some form of mental illness, and it isn’t just cured by some tidying up and moving on. Setsuko is emblematic of everyone floundering even when they seem like they have this life thing on lock. She is a sponge in a desert filled with glasses of water that never tip because it is seen as a segway to breaking.
Oh Lucy! explores the lack of authentic human contact and connection which makes people erupt into constructive or destructive action. The sister/mother often acts like a sulky, petulant child and always threatens to throw a tantrum. The most shocking moment comes from the last character that you would expect (think Lady Bird). There are two perfect moments of connection in the film: the denouement which temporarily dismisses the sexual as a veneer for needing comfort, and the moment when her worst English class lesson actually pays off in the real world. It is brief but beautiful until it morphs into more craziness. I loved the contrast of the image versus the reality of the US. Setsuko and her sister may be visitors, but they are not tourists. In many ways, they see the real America, and it is not like the postcards, but it is also not as terrifying as it initially seems. As an American, it is interesting to confront the outsider’s idea of America in films such as Oh Lucy! and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. When a certain dated Vanessa Carlton song plays on the radio, it evokes so much weighted hope in that moment.
If you are dissuaded by subtitles, Oh Lucy! is worth busting out your reading glasses. If you are in Massachusetts, it opened this weekend at Kendall Square Cinema with a Question & Answer after the Saturday 7:15 pm showing with Han West, one of the producers of the film.
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I am not condoning Setsuko’s behavior, which was at best, ill-advised and distasteful, and at worst, stalker levels of crazy, but Mika, you dumped the loser before your aunt slept with him. You don’t get to use her as your veneer for being at sea in life and literally. Screw the sister for cosigning her daughter’s excuse. Kaho Minami played two emotions at once in the abortion revelation scene, and I’m going to need her to tutor a lot of American actors who get praised for barely nailing one emotion (Tobey Maguire). I get not being around Setsuko forever, but let’s not pretend like none of this would have happened if Setsuko did not get involved. Chick was pregnant by a dude who clearly lost his teaching job (why?!?! What happened? I love that this movie only feels like an excerpt of life and it will still be unfolding) and could not support his first family then regretted it. Always do a background check, honey! After Setsuko is gone, you’re both still going to be messed up and alone.
Also John, you are right. Setsuko is a crazy stalker lady, but she is a crazy stalker lady that you borrowed $1800 from, and she knows where you live. I hope that after you drove off, you came back around and got her to the airport. It is literally the least that you can do.
Can Setsuko get another job? What are the statistics for unemployment in Japan? Don’t quit, girl! In the US, you can’t get unemployment benefits if you quit. Then you didn’t even rage quit, which I’m not advocating, but the laughing and cheering in the end made me annoyed at those cowards for being too scared to do it to her face. I loved that Setsuko resented the fact that she should be as grateful as the retiree for being the office’s laughing stock, and while I did not approve of the way that she called them on their bad behavior (let this lady have her moment), it is telling that they think it is worse for her to puncture the illusion of their insipid courtesies than for them to be so fake.
If Oh Lucy! had one flaw, it was the distinction between suicide and self destruction. I think that nuance was one of the few things that Annihilation had going for it, and while I applaud this film for its unflinching look, I think that while the self destructive aspect of Setsuko’s nature is explored, I am concerned that viewers may feel like lumping it in to the negative, final pile allotted to suicide when it is more about Setsuko trying to break the mold that society has placed around her, which is at times adolescent, awkward and awful.
Setsuko is doing everything for herself, not for others, but everyone acts like it is about them, which is understandable because they are directly involved in her schemes. The main flaw of her journey of self-discovery and adventure is that it is too dependent on others’ estimation of her; thus she is destined to fail. Even if her actions were motivated by some twisted sense of revenge, they kind of had it coming. You can’t steal another person, but you did choose a mister over your sister, and now you don’t have the mister. You scammed your aunt for money. Dude, you saw fatal attraction—never sleep with the crazy lady. You got lucky. You don’t get to be annoyed when people find out that you’re a dog. It’s not right, but it’s ok.
I think that is ultimately why people hate and reject her. They are uncomfortable with the naked, desperate truth of their existence that she reveals by simply existing and not hiding her impulses in a socially acceptable way. She shows her niece that she is not as special as she thinks, and that her aunt could be a harbinger of her future self. She shows John that he is not a noble man in love, but a complete loser and inadequate to every task set before him. She shows her sister that despite her status as a more socially acceptable woman, she is alone and in prison to a role that keeps her from enjoying others or her experience. She shows her colleagues that they are awful hypocrites, not a happy family. She isn’t always trying to show them up, but she does, which is why even when I’m clutching my pearls, I’m also rooting for her.
