Like people, most films have a clear nationality. Even when a director works outside of his or her country of origin, the resulting film usually still tilts clearly one way or another. Oh Lucy! is a rare exception, being a film that has both Japanese and American characteristics. Appropriately enough its director and writer Atsuko Hirayanagi is a Japanese who studied in and lives in the US and this is her debut directorial feature, being itself an expansion of an earlier short film.

Setsuko is a typical, unmarried office worker in Tokyo whose niece Mika asks her for a favor. She has paid for English lessons and now regrets it but can’t get a refund so she wants Setsuko to take her place instead. It turns out that the course is taught by a gregarious, enthusiastic American man named John who encourages students to hug and behave like extroverted Americans. However when Setsuko arrives for the next lesson, she finds that John has quit to return to the US and Mika has run away with him. After a confrontation with her sister Ayako, Mika’s mother, Setsuko decides to take leave and travel to the US as well. Ayako decides to come along as well but while Ayako’s intention is to find her daughter, Setsuko’s purpose is that she has fallen in love with John as well. Tied up in this is also Setsuko’s lingering resentment against Ayako for stealing and marrying her boyfriend long ago.

This film works fantastically as a comedy and I can’t count how many times I chuckled while watching it. Cultural confusion is natural material for comedy and this film could only have been made by a person who is at home with the subtleties of both Japanese and American cultures. John has his students put on a wig and adopt English names in order to put them into a mindset better suited for American English. But in Setsuko’s case, the alternate persona also enables her to do things that she could never ordinarily do in straight-laced, repressed Japan, such as getting a tattoo in California. I feel that this film is somewhat unbalanced in that it fundamentally incorporates a critique of Japanese society. An early scene involves Setsuko witnessing a suicide, just another random person who has been overcome by the overwhelming social pressure of living in Japan. Even though John is revealed to be just another irresponsible asshole, the film still seems to depict America as a freer, happier place.

I was also rather taken aback by how swiftly Setsuko falls in love with John, being willing to abandon her former life for someone she doesn’t really know at all. I suppose that is a key part of her character’s arc and is meant to show how desperate a person can become if deprived of human contact and warmth but it’s not my favorite part of the film. I also think that her relationship with her sister is left unresolved and that doesn’t feel very satisfying. Still this is great work and I continue to be surprised at how young the director is. Great performances all around, especially as both the US and Japan scenes feel authentic. I’d recommend this one highly.