Ghetto street trader & single mother Marcia (Audrey Reid) seeks a way to free herself from lowlifes like Larry, who lusts after Marcia's daughter Tanya, & Priest, a violent street thug. She begins attending the local dance hall by night, becoming the new sensation & entering a competition. If she wins the substantial prize money, she can build a better life for herself & her family. ...

Selma (Bjork) is a Czech immigrant who works as a machine operator in an American tool factory. Almost blind herself, she struggles to make enough money to pay for the operation which will save her son's eyesight, & has nearly collected the complete sum when the money is stolen from her by the cop (David Morse) who lives next door. Discovering this, Selma goes to appeal to the cop's mercy, but he refuses to listen & pulls a gun on her, an act which will have fatal consequences for the both of them. With songs by Bjork herself & spectacular dance sequences filmed with a mass of digital cameras, Lars von Trier's film is both an ultra-modern take on the film musical & a tear-jerker in the classic tradition. ...