Eburi is a 36 year-old man. Nothing enthuses him any more. While being drunk, he promises to contribute a story to a magazine. When he sobers down, he decides to write about the life of a salaried employee like himself who is very ordinary, not particularly talented.
The following is his story:
In 1949, Eburi gets married to Natsuko. His monthly salary is 8,000 yen and hers 4,000 yen. Therefore, both have to work to support themselves. Eburi has developed a habituIl tendency to pester around when he gets drunk. One year after their marriage, son Shosuke is born. In 1959, Eburi's mother dies in despair of her husband who has become listless due to the several ups and downs of gaining big profits and going bankrupt. His father is still alive and Eburi is enable to find a way to pay his father's debts. He is doubtful if he can make his wife and child happy. Nevertheless, he has somehow managed to survive so far, living in one of the houses at the employee housing quarters. He gives the title "The Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman" to his story of half novel and half essay style. When it is published, it receives the Naoki Literary Prize (the award given in memory of popular writer Naoki Sanjugo). At a party to celebrate his award, he gets drunk and pesters around.
Notes
The film is based on a novel written in the style of an essay under the same title by Yamaguchi Hitomi, depicting everyday life of a man categorized as "During-the-war Generation" who spent school days during the war and get married to start new life in the struggling post-war era. "Everyman" in the title means an average salaried employee who makes up an overwhelming majority of the city population in Japan, and "The Elegant Life" indicates sarcasm on betterment of the standard of living of ordinary salaried employees accompanied with Japan's economic growth after only a decade from the destroyed post-war period. As depicted in the film, the author Yamaguchi Hitomi was awarded the Naoki Literature Prize for this story. When he established himself well enough to become independent, he quit working as a salaried employee. Director Okamoto Kihachi and the leading actor Kobayashi Keiju belong to the same generation as the author. Exploiting innovative effects such as inserting animation sequences, the film humorously presents compassion of a middle-aged salaried employee. Kobayashi Keiju, who was originally noted for his excellent portrayal of salaried employee, won the best leading actor award of the Mainichi Film Contest for his superb performance in this picture.。一个不知天高地厚的高中生成为大企业的领导之后发生的一系列故事的浪漫喜剧。徐仁国在剧中饰演的角色是高中曲棍球队的主攻手,是该校最具人气的高中生。他将代替身为IT专家的哥哥成为某公司的企划室长,上演一系列曲折有趣的故事。。夜色中,天空突然出现异像,来自太空的神秘光芒消失于大海深处……在一所老人院里,乔(休姆·克罗宁 Hume Cronyn 饰)和一班老人在生命衰竭的阴影中尽量享受人生的快乐,去隔壁的游泳池中戏水是这些老朋友的兴趣所在。与此同时,经营游船出租的杰克(斯蒂夫·古根伯格 Steve Guttenberg 饰)接待了一批客人,这伙人自称他们租船是为了研究海中的大牡蛎,并将打捞来的“牡蛎”放置在老人院隔壁的泳池中。老人们如常在泳池戏水,但是在这里多了几个“巨蛋”以后,老人们从水中得到了源源不断的能量,焕发了青春活力。而在船上的杰克意外发现,他的客人们根本不是研究人员,而是寻找“牡蛎”形状同胞的外星来客……。