The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

Director:

John Sayles

Writer:

John Sayles (writer)

Release Date:

7 September 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Welcome to a world of crude beauty... of danger and excitement... of wonders, legend, and imagination... Welcome to Harlem, Brother.

Plot:

A mute alien is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem in this thought-provoking cult classic.

Plot Keywords:

Mute | Alien | Black Man | Extraterrestrial | Bar

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Joe Morton	...	The Brother
Rosanna Carter	...	West Indian Woman
Ray Ramirez	...	Hispanic Man
Yves Rene	...	Haitian Man
Peter Richardson	...	Islamic Man
Ginny Yang	...	Korean Shopkeeper
Daryl Edwards	...	Fly
Steve James	...	Odell
Leonard Jackson	...	Smokey
Bill Cobbs	...	Walter
Maggie Renzi	...	Noreen
Olga Merediz	...	Noreen's Client
Tom Wright	...	Sam
Minnie Gentry	...	Mrs. Brown
Ren Woods	...	Bernice

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

108 min | Australia:106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-8 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ellis Island, New York Harbor, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Anarchist's Convention Films

Trivia:

John Sayles stated that in choosing the steel drum for the music on this movie, with its unusual and technological, yet still organic, quality, he was partly influenced by the zither music from Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the kid finishes showing The Brother the card trick, he says "I've got another trick. I can make all the white people disappear." The train enters the next station and all the white people proceed to exit the train. The Kid says "See?", but you can see, right next to him, there is a white woman sitting down and she never leaves the train.

Quotes:

Man In Black: [sitting at the bar] Beer.
Odell: What kind?
Man In Black: Draft.
Man In Black: On the rocks.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Destroy All Humans! 2 (2006) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Dinero

Early John Sayles film made it's mark, and introduced talent

I think John Sayles is one of the greatest directors in America. This is his first commercial film (still was small, independent, and low budget). While Matewan or others may have been better films, I think this is a good second place offering from such a talented director. I'm so excited that this film is finally out on DVD. I can see the facial expressions on Joe Mortons face so much clearer, it reminds me of when I saw it in the theatre over 15 years ago. This is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time (out of many thousands)! It has so much in it of commentaries about American life, including of course race and cultures. But it goes much deeper than that. Wildly entertaining and funny, while also being a tense thriller at times about someone on the run from the bad authorities. The story is about a run-away slave or convict who has escaped in a spaceship and crash landed on earth, arriving on Ellis Island. A new twist on the meaning of illegal alien. He sneaks on the boat to shore and begins exploring New York City, learning fast this strange but wonderful culture (that of mid-1980s New York City- which was a wonderfully rich culture). He ends up spending some of his extra time in a run-down bar in Harlem, where the regular clientele expound the wisdom of the ages while they try to figure out who this guy is that can't talk. (Joe Morton's character has no speech capability, but manages to communicate at least as well with his facial and body gestures.) Meanwhile, the bounty hunters from space are on his trail in NYC, just missing him sometimes, but getting ever closer.

Speaking of characters- this film is full of more talent than any other film I can recall. That they did all this on a low budget just amazes me, because ALL the actors do such good acting. There is a lot of dialog in this film, and a large cast. Most of them have been in many films since, and got their start in this one. In addition to being in many of John Sayles' other films, David Strathairn has been in dozens of other recent films, and is a well-recognized face. Joe Morton played two of his most outstanding roles in this film, and in the cult movie Trouble in Mind. After that he has been in hot demand in Hollywood to this day. I just keep seeing him in movies, and he really deserves it- he is such a great actor! And the list goes on. Finally, the music sound track is just gorgeous- mostly light reggae, dub, and light jazz. Just wonderful, and now it is back in print too- on CD. Marvelous!