Plot: In 1921, Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda arrive from Poland at Ellis Island, full of guarded optimism. But things go wrong immediately: doctors quarantine Magda, and Ewa discovers that she has been branded a "woman of low moral standing" during passage. Scheduled for a deportation hearing, she is rescued by the enigmatic and hot-tempered Bruno Weiss, who seems to have questionable connections with the immigration authorities. Bruno can secure Magda's release, and Ewa is so desperate to earn the money to do so that she reluctantly assents to join Bruno's stable of prostitutes... even as Bruno seems to be falling for her. Things are complicated further when Bruno's cousin Emil, aka "Orlando the Magician," meets Ewa and is instantly smitten. But with the suffering Ewa at the center, this will be no ordinary love triangle.
Alternative Plot: After her sister is quarantined at Ellis Island, a Polish nurse (Marion Cotillard) is forced into prostitution by a theater manager (Joaquin Phoenix) who moonlights as a pimp.
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