A former aristocratic family faces financial hardship and their daughter is introduced to a nice man in the auto repair business, the hope being that a marriage might be of economic assistance to the family. The daughter's family finds it hard to accept this kind of idea and the young man is uncomfortable with the difference in their social standing. However, everything works out in the end and a happy marriage takes place.

著名外国小说改编，讲快乐的学生王子爱上酒馆女郎。小津的学生王子纵使率性依然，却没法再无忧无虑下去，影片的情感大幅转移在穷学生那忧郁的脸孔上。学生王子做了社长后，把同学都弄到公司里，但彼此关系开始因阶级有别而质变。小津最后一部以学生和小职员为题的作品，标志著由喜入悲的开始。

四个大学生来到大屿山攀登，夜晚借宿于山间的一座寺庙，学生们在一名小和尚（张国荣 饰）的招待下，与寺内大师聊了一夜，发现出家人与世人的生活原来很不同。前来游玩的四人只想攀登山的高峰，而出家人追求的是攀登佛理的高峰；出家人想要看破红尘，而大学生们只想要看红日；当男女们在海滩野餐时，主持则在说禅，这一动一静之间，出家人和世人的境界对比鲜明。第二天一早，学生们便离开寺庙继续旅程，而在门前清扫的小和尚，只是微笑目送，心间仿佛拈花有悟……《沙之城》属于《岛的故事》电视剧系列第三集。

展现了甘泉村妇女摆脱传统观念的禁锢，自觉计划生育的新观念。