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, Daryl Edwards, Rosanna Carter

3 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:

astronomical object in title | humanoid alien | alien | new york city | extraterrestrial | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some drug content and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie features the drug culture as part of its story line but it was actually made before the onset of the crack epidemic that ravaged inner cities in the 1980s.

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Goofs

At the end of the credits, it is written that the story, all names, characters and incidents portrayed in the film are "ficitious."

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Quotes

Sam: [talking about The Brother] What am I supposed to do?
Fly: You the city, Sam. Figure out where to put him.
Sam: Men's shelter.
Smokey: Too smelly.
Sam: Okay. The Hilton. You got the tab?
Smokey: What they pay you for?
Sam: I just make phone calls. You want him out, you could call the cops.
Fly: Cops? Oh, man.
Smokey: He knew the death seat when he sat down on it.
Sam: It's not like I got to drum up more business for the city, you know?

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Connections

References Risky Business (1983)

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Soundtracks

Dinero
Sung by Efrain Salgado
By Frank London, Mason Daring and Efrain Salgado
Sweet Melodies Publishing/ASCAP

User Reviews

An Unusual Cult Classic

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

If this film had been made five years earlier, it might have fallen into the blaxploitation trap. But, luckily, this is not the case because it is above and beyond blaxploitation and in many ways far more clever. Rather than dwell on race, it just sort of accepts it.

There is the theme of immigration, though it is not heavy-handed and the viewer can choose to see this as a parable or not. They can choose to see it as science fiction or not. (Obviously it is, but it is light.) There is plenty of room for a viewer to imprint his or her own thoughts on to the story and make it their own.

Bonus: Fisher Stevens shows up.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

14 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Brother from Another Planet

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$350,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$3,677,209

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,677,209

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