Bernie a self-destructive drunk spends a rainy day on the beach of a rundown Danish seaside resort with a little girl named Winnie who wears a steel leg brace and who may - or may not - be his niece or daughter. He spouts poetry encounters a gay kiosk keeper (Peter Sellers in a cameo) guzzles beer and gets drunker and drunker often ignoring the little girl until he finally collapses on a street.