拓人在大学时代参加了话剧社团,一心想要在舞台上做出一番建树。然然毕业后,他和大部分应届生一样,放弃了表演,穿上西装打上领带,奔赴在各大公司的面试会场之间。瑞月和光太郎是拓人的同窗兼好友,两人曾是一对恋人后来分手,而如今的拓人依旧默默的爱慕着瑞月。
瑞月的肩上背负着赡养家庭的重担,因此在找工作上格外拼命,而光太郎曾是乐队的主唱,过惯了自由散漫的生活的他如今亦加入了求职的队伍之中。巨大的压力,无数的竞争者,稀少的内定名额,眼看着瑞月和光太郎等人一个接着一个的拿到了名额,拓人的内心渐渐产生了微妙的扭曲。。在国外工作的张南星突然得知母亲患上了脑瘤,于是放弃了国外的工作选择回国陪妈妈度过最后的时间,谁料刚回国一场车祸直接夺走张南星的生命,张南星也因此意外进入了一个奇妙空间,获得了能七次重返人间的机会化身七种动物找到妈妈,就可以复活回到妈妈身边。。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.。