Hikoroku Laughs a lot

1941 film directed by Masahiro Makino

Japanese adaptation of Marcel Pagnol's play "Marius", set in early XXth century Japan.

A bar girl tries to pass her three children, each from a different father, to rural relatives.

Father of nine children cannot find a job. Despite their aspirations, the children are encouraged by both parents to hold down menial jobs and contribute to the family expenses. Eventually ...@

Masako, the daughter of an impoverished itinerant tinsmith, wins a grammar school composition contest with an essay about her neighborhood. The much publicized essay ends up causing the family problems and their chronic money troubles threaten Masako's further education.