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.。美国某普通高中,上世纪70年代曾发生一起骇人听闻的惨案,名叫杰克(Billy Aaron Brown 饰)的男孩受到同学的排挤,结果被关在锅炉房中遇到意外活活烧死。时光流逝,当年的惨剧已渐渐被人遗忘,少数知情者也将其尘封在记忆深处,不愿提起。保罗(Preston Jones 饰)、迪安娜(Catherine Combs 饰)、丽莎(Maitland McConnell 饰)因各种原因遭到校长留校察看的处罚。傍晚,狂风大作,暴雨倾盆,孩子们被困在校园内。就在此时,一个模糊漆黑的亡灵开始在他们周围逡巡,恐怖与死亡不断出现,杰克的亡灵似乎被震耳的雷声惊醒。 孩子们试图逃脱,却发现自己已然陷入40年前的生死迷局之中……。朱丽叶(凯特·温丝莱特 Kate Winslet 饰)和波林(梅兰妮·林斯基 Melanie Lynskey 饰)相识于一所校风严谨的女子学校中,一见如故的两人之间很快就建立起了真挚而热烈的友情。在两人共有的日记本上,记录着名为《波洛夫尼亚》的虚构故事,故事的主角是查尔斯国王和黛博拉王后。 朱丽叶的肺结核病让她和波林被迫分离,在此期间,她们以查尔斯和黛博拉的身份互相通信。随着时间的推移,朱丽叶的父母察觉了女儿和波林之间超乎寻常的感情,他们开始着手拆散这对如胶似漆的好友。父母的举动让朱丽叶和波林十分痛苦,处于敏感年纪的两人在冲动之下终于犯下了无法挽回的罪孽。。