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.

Um bairro com a penumbra dos becos, as vielas tortuosas, os amores e esperanças íntimas: Gaivota, uma pobre tonta, sonha com um marinheiro que Pardal, o rapaz que a adora, deseja ser ele. Marlene, irmã de Gaivota, vive uma cruel realidade com Meia-Lua, um vadio à beira do crime e da violência. À noite, numa velha barca abandonada, Pardal faz-se capitão com outros que lhe dão curso à fantasia, até que o choro duma criança os surpreende. Será necessário protegê-la e, ao suspeitarem da sua origem, o bairro alvoroçar-se-á de desalento, ódio e ameaça…