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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

He's not just another out-of-towner.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

---

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

The film grossed over ten times its production cost in its first weekend of full release.

---

Goofs

After sitting on the steps listening to the cop, The Brother walks away leaving the cop sitting there. The cop has his cap on when they're both on the steps, but in the next shot of The Brother walking away, his cap is off and he soon puts it on.

---

Quotes

Man In Black: Badges?
Man In Black: What badges?
Man In Black: We don't have no badges.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Big One (1997)

---

Soundtracks

"You Can't Get to Heaven from Here"
Sung by Ravan Dessaline
By Mason Daring
Sweet Melodies Publishing/ASCAP
From the "Return Of The Secaucus 7" soundtrack (1977)

User Reviews

A beautiful movie

When Rod Serling created the classic "Twilight Zone" TV show, he presented it as a harmless fantasy/SF show when it was actually a series of morality plays.

In this film you have John Sayles' take on the same concept. He talks a standard SF cliche -- the stranded ET -- and uses it as the jumping-off place for a story about something altogether different. He doesn't appear at the end, like Serling, and tell you what the moral or message was.

Rather than talk about all that (art appreciation and interpretation is pretty much a subjective affair), I would like to say a word or two about the performance of Mr. Joe Morton as the eponymous character:

Zowie!

The Brother is totally mute. And yet Morton's performance knocks the poop out of any piece of acting you could name. Human and humane, empathetic and sympathetic. This guy will have you laughing and crying right along with him.

An incredible performance. Well worth the price of the rental, and the popcorn, and the gas that you burned up picking it up and...