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.。地产大亨王小虎在大街上撞了一个捉鸡的老人,天上的热气球驾驶员李大春看见了这一幕,却并不知道那个老人就是自己的老丈人。大春打电话给老婆欢儿让她回家跟老丈人吃饭,被妻子断然拒绝。欢儿因为啤酒妹这份工作而被父亲赶出家门,一直心有怨气。
老丈人因为撞击脑部有血块,需要马上做手术。窝囊的大春鼓起勇气三番四次向王小虎要钱都被赶出来。
80后女孩糖糖是小虎的情人,同时跟“钢琴家”乔邦恋爱。为了全国巡演乔邦跟高利贷借了30万,如今被高利贷追杀。为了替乔邦还债,糖糖自导自演了绑架案。
棒子老虎鸡,一物降一物,这个连环套到最后,到底谁被降住了呢?。一栋普普通通的公寓,住着失去了丈夫的女子早织(安藤樱饰)及其就读小学的儿子麦野湊(黑川想矢饰)。凑寡言少语,少年老成,似乎藏着无限的心事无法道出。而近一段时间凑种种反常举动,让早织心有不安。从儿子口中,她得知凑遭到了保利老师(永山瑛太饰)的霸凌,于是鼓足勇气前往学校讨要说法。校方的态度暧昧应付,甚至对她单亲母亲的身份有着偏颇的认知。当双方变得愈加胶着之际,早织似乎慢慢发现学校里的儿子有着她所不熟知的一面。在这一过程中,另一个男孩星川依里(柊木阳太饰)也被卷入漩涡中心…… 本片荣获第76节戛纳电影节主竞赛单元最佳编剧奖。。