The Elegant Life of Mr Everyman

江分利満氏の優雅な生活 (Eburi man shi no yugana seikatsu)

Eburi is a lowly salaryman who drunkenly promises two magazine editors that he will write them a masterpiece. Once sober, Eburi commits himself to his promise and after deliberating over what to write about, he decides to write a novella using himself, his middle class life and his experiences as the theme.

Based on the popular magazine series by Hitomi Yamaguchi and falling within the framework of Toho’s popular genre of ‘Salaryman Comedies’, this classic film depicts the life of Eburi (played by Keiju Kobayashi in a career-defining role), showing his mixed feelings about Japan’s social and economic outcome of the Second World War. Featuring animation and audacious editing, this idiosyncratic and inventive film is a timeless treatment of life in postwar Japan.

昭和を代表する男性作家である山口瞳の直木賞受賞作品を映画化。昭和30年代の典型的な日本人サラリーマン像となる江分利満氏の日常を描く。主人公の勤務先がサントリーであり、その彼がついには直木賞を受賞するといったように、原作よりも作者の山口氏の実像に忠実なのが特徴。アニメ、合成写真など、当時としては斬新な手法がとられている。

監督: 岡本喜八
出演: 小林桂樹、新珠三千代、東野英治郎

Distributor: Toho

Image: © 1963 Toho Co., Ltd.