The Brother from Another Planet (1984)

the audience applauded

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

An alien (Joe Morton) lands in NYC. At first, he's outwardly a black man missing a leg. He's mute, has the ability to heal, fix machines, takes out his eye, reads minds and super athletic. He grows a leg. He befriends a group at a local bar in a black neighborhood. He is being pursued by two mysterious Man in Black (David Strathairn, John Sayles).It's a really interesting concept to do a low budget indie of a friendly alien finding his way in a minority neighborhood of a modern city. It starts well but it meanders and rambles. I want it to do something and it would be great to have the brother learn to speak. There are some nice scenes early on like the Korean grocery store but the movie fades. Instead of accelerating into the climax, it devolves into silliness.

Although many unusual immigrants have passed through the gates of Ellis Island, none perhaps has been more so than the one who crashlands his spaceship in NY Harbor and fetches up on that storied entryway in John Sayles' "The Brother From Another Planet" (1984). The nameless black Brother looks a lot like other illegal aliens--except for his taloned, three-toed feet, of course--and although mute, does have some compensating abilities. He can fix mechanical devices such as video games and TVs with a mere touch, like some kind of techno pinball wizard, and heal a child's booboos with a laying on of hands. He can also get vibes from objects by touching them, can regrow a limb overnight, and can pop an eyeball out of his head to plant like a secret spying device. Anyway, this charming and often very funny film shows us what happens when this Brother winds up in Harlem and meets an assortment of neighborhood characters--barflies, a single mother, a lounge singer, a social worker, junkies--and tries to do something about the heroin scourge afflicting the city, all while being pursued by a pair of Men In Black-type bounty hunters. This sweet movie makes some poignant observations about Harlem in the mid-'80s, and Joe Morton, seven years pre-"T2," uses all the nonverbal tricks of the actor's trade to make us see through the Brother's eye(s). His is a fascinating character, so I was a bit disappointed that we never get to learn anything about his background, or why he is on the run. Sayles tells us in an interview that his film cost only $400 K to make, but even without elaborate FX, it works just fine. And I just loved the reference to my favorite movie, 1948's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," that Sayles manages to work into his script. One other thing: Watch this film with the DVD's English subtitles on; you'll need them for a lot of the background talk, not to mention that Rasta guy!

A black skinned alien, who doesn't utter a single word yet understands what others are saying, crashlands in Harlem. He meets various people, such as some quirky, interesting black characters in a bar setting who would befriend him even though he doesn't say anything to them. He often sits or looks on as people just chat away. He has gifted abilities such as his touch being able to repair equipment magically, the way his right eye can be removed and used as an image recording device, can heal wounds, or how anything solid object he embraces with his touch can speak from the noise of a past incident. In Harlem, he's introduced to racism, poverty, lust, drugs, crime, sex, among other things as two alien "police"(played by director Sayles and his frequent actor David Strathairn)are trying to locate his whereabouts so they can "haul him in." The film show our alien's particular interest in two tragic dope-pushers(..and abusers)and how their plight might result from wealthy uptown types. I think ultimately, the film is a candid fish-out-of-water view of Harlem's plight from a babe's point-of-view.Introspective tale regarding Harlem and how it is viewed by many( a beat cop who chats with our alien, two white men from Indiana who get lost, etc). I thought the film was on target using comedy as an avenue to expose what had happened to Harlem over the years. Particularly interesting is listening to the men in the bar as they often are our real insight into how Halrem has changed over the years. Joe Morton is really amazing because he has to be convincing without a line of dialogue. Having us believe he's from some other planet is not the easiest task, but it's a credit to the actor and his director that this flick accomplishes it. Just a brilliant indie from acclaimed writer/director Sayles.

I really enjoyed this film. It is a good example of dialogue over action within a story. The main character does not have any dialogue, but the film is carried so well by the supporting cast that we begin to learn about the main character as much as the supporting cast. Sayles did a great job on this film for a respectable low budget film (some might even say a B film). A good film to watch...It is also a good film for most any screenwriter to study. Screenplays are essentially dialogue and action. That is to say that a reading (or spec) screenplay is set up that way. Dialogue is the vehicle that drives the story, and this film demonstrates that point very well. The idea that the main character has no dialogue is complemented by the dialogue of the supporting cast in intelligent ways.