The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.

Director:

John Sayles

Writer:

John Sayles

Stars:

Joe Morton, Rosanna Carter, Ray Ramirez

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Renn Woods	...	Bernice (as Ren Woods)

Storyline

The Brother is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth, in New York City. While mute, strongly empathic, and able to fix things, he resembles a Black man with strange feet. His attempt to make a place for himself in Harlem is an allegory for the immigrant experience in the United States. Meanwhile, two bounty hunters from the Brother's home planet arrive and try to capture him.

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Plot Keywords:

mute | black man | alien | new york city | extraterrestrial | 

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Taglines:

This illegal alien chose the New York streets over the men in black.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

7 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Apo allon planiti

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$300,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$3,700,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anarchist's Convention Films, UCLA Film and Television Archive, A-Train Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When the Brother is stealing a car, a crew member's reflection is visible in the car's window.

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Quotes

Card Trickster: I have another magic trick for you. Wanna see me make all the white people disappear?
Subway Public Address Announcer: Fifty-Ninth Street, Columbus Circle; 125th Street next. This an Uptown A Express going to 207. Change for the AA local across the platform, the D, or the upper level, change for the number 1 Broadway trains.
Card Trickster: See, what'd I tell ya?
Subway Public Address Announcer: Uptown A, 125th street, next.

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Connections

References Risky Business (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Burning My Heart Out"
Sung by Renn Woods
By Mason Daring
Sweet Melodies Publishing/ASCAP

User Reviews

The Brother From Another Planet

The Brother From Another Planet, is about an African American alien who crash lands on Earth in Harlem, in New York City. The brother does not speak English (or any language at all) but he can understand others and soon makes friends at a local bar and gets a job fixing things. He also gets a place to stay, lodging with a single mother. Many things on Earth seem unusual to the brother and he encounters many unusual people and situations. Soon we also find out about two men in black who are after the brother and want to get rid of him. He also shows his many alien talents during the film. Winner of The Caixa de Catalunya Award for Best Actor (Joe Morton, who plays the brother) and Best Screenplay (John Sayles, who also directed and edited the film) at The Catalonian International Film Festival. The Brother From Another Planet, has good direction, a good script, a good performance by Joe Morton, as well as a good supporting cast, good original music, good cinematography and good film editing. The Brother From Another Planet, takes a little while to get into but gives us an entertaining story, a likable main character and likable side characters, interesting situations and the script is filled with good dialogue, good character development, is full of smart satire and unusual characters and lots of unique situations and plot twists. The film is quite enjoyable and entertaining and is deliciously different. I enjoyed this film quite a bit and it is a nice clever sci-fi/comedy.