Two women, Ewa and Magda, seek asylum in the United States, emigrating from Poland. After they arrive at Ellis Island, Magda is suspected to be ill and therefore is separated by immigration officials and held in the hospital. Ewa, though almost rejected as a result her alleged sinful actions on the boat, is able to enter with the help of Bruno Weiss. After arriving in New York City, Ewa seeks to raise enough money for Magda’s medical care and reconnect with her. The Immigrant, directed by James Gray, is the movie in which this takes place. Ewa is put in quite a difficult situation as not only must she avoid deportation and basically survive, but she also needs to raise money for Magda, who has tuberculosis. While she does immediately have someone [Bruno] to provide her shelter, basic needs, and even an income, Ewa is circumstantially at the mercy of this person. The means that Bruno provides for her to make money is the very degrading prostitution. It is also revealed towards the ending that Bruno had the funds to finance Magda’s medical care all along, but hid this fact from Ewa because he was romantically interested in her and therefore wanted to …show more content…
The Poles are, by comparison, rather attractive in every sense of the word. This conclusion is epitomized by Ewa, who is concerned about the fate of her soul, regrets being forced to demean herself, but always conducts herself with admirable self-respect and honor, albeit if badly tarnished—quite a contrast to Weiss” (Biskupski 117).
Biskupski continually compares and contrasts the depiction of characters between different origins and exposes the correlation in which the Ewa, who is Polish, is always shown to be of virtue while those from other backgrounds are portrayed to be immoral, scandalous, or corrupt. He believes this is not a matter of coincidence, but done intentionally in order to defy the Polish stereotype, perpetrated by Hollywood like many