Ballad of a Workman

A former soldier returns home to find a city in ruins and takes a job as a day laborer on a road construction crew. To help support the household, his wife also seeks employment. Together, the couple struggles through difficult manual labor with the simple goal of providing a happy life for their growing son.

This 1962 Japanese drama was directed and written by Keisuke Kinoshita, who also served as a producer alongside Masao Shirai. It was produced by Shochiku and appears first in a sequence of Kinoshita's works that includes Sing, Young People! and Oh, My Son!. The film features a cast led by Hideko Takamine and Keiji Sada, who play the parents, Torae and Yoshio Nonaka. They are joined by Toyozō Yamamoto as their son, Toshiyuki, as well as Yoshiko Kuga, Chieko Baisho, and Kiyoshi Nonomura. The movie has a total runtime of 102 minutes.