热爱绘画的19岁青年安冈邦彦（真田广之 饰）考入某大学的美术系，但他的人生却发生变故。母亲遽然离世，给了这个未经世事的青年莫大打击。在道顿堀川旁经营咖啡店的中年男子武内铁男（山崎努 饰）同情邦彦的遭遇，于是出资安葬了他的母亲，并将其留在店中帮工。铁男的儿子政夫（佐藤浩市 饰）痴迷桌球和赌博，父子俩为此关系紧张，于是铁男对拥有远大理想的邦彦视同己出，呵护备至，而政夫则在赌球的泥潭中越陷越深。 某日，邦彦在桥上写生时邂逅了风姿绰约的真知子（松坂庆子 饰），奇妙的因缘在这一刻悄悄展开…… 本片根据宫本辉“河流三部曲”（《泥之河》、《萤之川》、《道顿堀川》）中的同名原著改编。
Elya, 20, is a student and a future ecologist. One day, Matvey, the head of a construction company, came to her university to discuss the development plan for an old forest park. Elya did not hesitate to crush his project. Matvey is very interested in girls' confidence, And used his usual influence method - he just tried to ; purchase She, but Elya doesn't need a sponsor. Then, Matvey was surprised by her indestructibility and placed a bet on Elya: romantic seven days according to his rules. If the girl still decides to leave after that, he will refuse to build a skyscraper in the forest park. When Matvey really paused design work, she agreed. Elya thinks she's a bit like the movie 'Beautiful Woman' The female protagonist in, but it turns out that Matvey is not the person she imagined.
