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.。陈肖宁和黄冬青在大学里是一对人见人羡的恋人,俩人打算一毕业就结婚。而安景文是陈肖宁是好朋友,她也暗自喜欢黄冬青。因为安景文的刻意安排,陈黄二人发生了误会,进而分手。而和黄冬青分手后不久,陈肖宁就发现自己怀了他的孩子。她于是写信给黄冬青,可是迟迟不见回音。原来是安景文把来信藏了起来,黄冬青根本不知情。无奈之下的陈肖宁只好怀着黄冬青的孩子嫁给了并不知情的廖成伟。安景文也和黄冬青结婚。 七年以后,陈肖宁和全家回到曾经生活的城市,原本毫无联系的两个家庭碰到了一起。安景文患有遗传性精神病,做了结扎手术,而黄冬青并不知情,因为孩子的事情和她频频冷战廖成伟虽然深爱家庭,却瞒着陈肖宁在外面和一个年轻女孩在一起,他并不知道自己宠爱的儿子并非亲生。 新欢和旧爱,爱情和责任,四个步入中年的男女在一起,发生了一连串令人意想不到,却又在情理之中的故事,所有人都在婚姻中得到了成...。