Un miembro de la alta sociedad muere en Lisboa, de sobredosis de drogas. Un periodista trata de investigar para llegar al traficante que está actuando con tanta impunidad. Es una sorpresa, cuando todas las pruebas apuntan hacia una dama de impecable reputación.
Meia-Lua used to be a sailor, but he now makes a poor living smuggling. He is a cynical man, who doesn't care for Ana or for the child they had together. He lives with the beautiful Marlene who dances in the bars. Gull spends her whole days lulling a doll in her arms, and she waits for her love that will rise from the depths of the sea. The deaf musician Sparrow watches over her, in his despaired love and long-held wish of becoming a sea captain. There is a dispute down the piers, there is a crime that might be just an accident, there is a bad conscience that turns sour, there is a boat full of poor wretches like a rocking lullaby, a baby that passes from arms to arms, a clumsy beggar that finds some work, a courthouse of tramps... From this expressionist account that has unexpected comical moments, the censors from Salazar's regime cut away 20 minutes that were never to be found again.
When a businessman's car crashes and burns, inspector Moisés of the criminal brigade is given the case, as the body has been stabbed. He'll try to reconstruct the financier's personality by the mirrored impressions on those who knew him.
The story of how the conflicting relationship of Eduardo and vaudeville actress Isabel is affected by the passion he feels for their neighbor, Mariana, a young overprotected, and the unexpected visit of his uncle Plácido, a moral teacher.
Luís immigrated to the USA and intends to become an American. But after his father invites him on a journey to the Portuguese territories in Africa, he will find true love, and also learn to value his country and its colonial grandeur.
