1597年的朝鲜王朝危机四伏,朝鲜海军主力随着大将李舜臣被贬而遭受巨大打击,军纪溃散,只剩少量军舰。而倭寇伺机派出胁坂安治,协同令人闻风丧胆的“海贼王”来岛通总的海盗军共同出击,势必攻克汉阳。危急关头,李舜臣力排众议,决定率领仅剩的十几艘军舰前去鸣梁海峡迎战倭寇。李舜臣先是派遣部下任俊永去敌方汇合卧底俊沙,又重振军心,以“勇者生,畏者死”的气概,号召与倭寇决一死战。决战开始,李舜臣身先士卒,死守血岛,击溃“海贼王”好几拨先遣军,关键时刻任俊永的哑妻读懂他的唇语发挥作用,使得李舜臣将船成功获救。最终军民协力,重创了日本舰队,创造了世界海战史上一次以少胜多的著名战役。。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.。