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.。江洋大盗张丹在一次行动中遭遇黑吃黑,失手被擒入狱。三年后,出狱的张丹会合老搭档小宝,与新入伙的叶红联手,在追捕自己多年的法国警探皮埃尔眼皮底下盗窃得手。
小试身手之后,张丹找到宝物的买家——与自己情同父子的犯罪组织头目金刚,二人重逢之后,张丹接到新的任务。与此同时,为将张丹一伙人捉拿归案,皮埃尔说服对张丹因爱生恨的前女友Amber加入追捕行动。
从戛纳到布拉格,跨越欧洲大陆的猫鼠游戏正激烈上演。几次短兵相接后,张丹的行踪逐渐被皮埃尔掌握。而随着一行人接近终极目标,张丹的真实计划也逐渐浮出水面……。本片是约翰.休斯与莫利.林沃德继《少女十五十六时》之后,再度合作的一部中学生喜剧,描写五位个性反叛的男女同学,在假期被罚留校温习功课。五人的家庭背景和性格各异,但在他们诚恳交谈之后,逐渐放开了彼此的戒心和敌意,变成了心意相通的好友。全片对年轻人的心态有相当深入细腻的描写,手法轻松幽默而具启发性,容易获得年轻观众共鸣,一群新秀演员也有贴切的演出。。