The Brother from Another Planet
Encyclopedia
The Brother from Another Planet (1984) is a science fiction
film written, directed and edited by John Sayles
. It stars Joe Morton
as an extraterrestrial who has escaped to Earth and who hides in New York City.
stars in this dramatic comedy, set in New York City in the early 1980s, as "The Brother", an alien and escaped slave who, while fleeing "Another Planet", has crash-landed in Upper New York Harbor.
Picked up as homeless, he is deposited in Harlem. The sweet-natured and honest Brother looks like any other black man, except that he is mute and - although other characters in the film never see them - his feet each have three large toes. The Brother has telekinetic powers but, unable to speak, he struggles to express himself and adjust to his new surroundings, including a stint in the Job Corps at a video arcade in Manhattan.
He is chased by two white Men in Black
(David Strathairn
and director Sayles himself); Sayles's twist on the Men in Black concept is that instead of government agents trying to cover up alien activity, Sayles's Men in Black are also aliens, out to re-capture "The Brother" and other escaped slaves and bring them back to their home planet. Unlike the many human characters in this film, the aliens themselves are oblivious of skin color, and screenwriter Sayles has one of the Men in Black
utter an epithet "Three Toe" when describing their quarry, in attempt to prove that skin color is just as arbitrary as number of toes or any other human characteristic that would make one different from another.
"genius" grant on the film, which cost $350,000 to produce.
called it "vastly amusing but progressively erratic" film structured as a "series of behavioral vignettes, [many of which] are genuinely delightful and inventive"; as it continues, the film "takes a rather unpleasant and, ultimately, confusing turn." Vincent Canby
called it a "nice, unsurprising shaggy-dog story that goes on far too long" but singled out "Joe Morton's sweet, wise, unaggressive performance." Roger Ebert
gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "the movie finds countless opportunities for humorous scenes, most of them with a quiet little bite, a way of causing us to look at our society", noting that "by using a central character who cannot talk, [Sayles] is sometimes able to explore the kinds of scenes that haven't been possible since the death of silent film
."
The A.V. Club
, in a 2003 review of the film's DVD release, says the film's superhero scenes are "often unintentionally silly, but again, Sayles shapes a catchy premise into a subtler piece, using Morton's 'alien' status as a way of asking who deserves to be called an outsider in a country born of outsiders"; commenting on the DVD, they note its "marvelous" audio commentary
track by Sayles, "who moves fluidly from behind-the-scenes anecdotes to useful technical tips to unpretentious dissections of his own themes."
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film written, directed and edited by John Sayles
John Sayles
John Thomas Sayles is an American independent film director, screenwriter and author.-Early life:Sayles was born in Schenectady, New York, the son of Mary , a teacher, and Donald John Sayles, a school administrator. He was raised Catholic and took to labeling himself "a Catholic atheist"...
. It stars Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as an extraterrestrial who has escaped to Earth and who hides in New York City.
Plot
Joe MortonJoe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
stars in this dramatic comedy, set in New York City in the early 1980s, as "The Brother", an alien and escaped slave who, while fleeing "Another Planet", has crash-landed in Upper New York Harbor.
Picked up as homeless, he is deposited in Harlem. The sweet-natured and honest Brother looks like any other black man, except that he is mute and - although other characters in the film never see them - his feet each have three large toes. The Brother has telekinetic powers but, unable to speak, he struggles to express himself and adjust to his new surroundings, including a stint in the Job Corps at a video arcade in Manhattan.
He is chased by two white Men in Black
Men in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...
(David Strathairn
David Strathairn
David Russell Strathairn is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for portraying journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck...
and director Sayles himself); Sayles's twist on the Men in Black concept is that instead of government agents trying to cover up alien activity, Sayles's Men in Black are also aliens, out to re-capture "The Brother" and other escaped slaves and bring them back to their home planet. Unlike the many human characters in this film, the aliens themselves are oblivious of skin color, and screenwriter Sayles has one of the Men in Black
Men in Black
Men in Black , in American popular culture and in UFO conspiracy theories, are men dressed in black suits who claim to be government agents who harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. It is sometimes implied that they may be aliens themselves...
utter an epithet "Three Toe" when describing their quarry, in attempt to prove that skin color is just as arbitrary as number of toes or any other human characteristic that would make one different from another.
Cast
- Joe MortonJoe MortonJoseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as The Brother - Rosanna CarterRosanna CarterRosanna Carter was an American television, stage and film actress, of Bahamian extraction, and the sister of Esther Rolle and Estelle Evans. She was born in Florida. During the Harlem Renaissance, she acted at New Lafayette Theater as one of the Lafayette Players...
as West Indian Woman - Ray Ramirez as Hispanic Man
- Yves Rene as Haitian Man
- Peter RichardsonPeter RichardsonPeter Richardson is an English actor, comedian, director, and writer, best known for The Comic Strip Presents... television series. He is also a long time comedy partner with Nigel Planer.-Early career:...
as Islamic Man - Ginny Yang as Korean Shopkeeper
- Daryl Edwards as Fly
- Steve JamesSteve James (actor)Steve James was an American actor, stuntman and martial artist. He starred mostly in action films such as the American Ninja series, The Delta Force , The Exterminator , and Enter the Game of Death...
as Odell - Leonard JacksonLeonard Jackson (actor)Leonard Jackson is an African-American stage, film, and television actor, perhaps most widely known for his roles in several PBS television series for children as well as his roles in films such as The Brother from Another Planet, Car Wash, and The Color Purple.-Early years and stage...
as Smokey - Bill CobbsBill CobbsWilbert "Bill" Cobbs is an American film and television actor. He has starred in over 120 television programs and movies.-Life and career:...
as Walter - Maggie Renzi as Noreen
- Olga MeredizOlga MeredizOlga Merediz is an American Broadway, TV, and film actress. Merediz is probably best known for originating the role of Abuela Claudia in the Broadway musical In the Heights...
as Noreen's Client - Tom WrightTom Wright (actor)Tom Wright is a television and theatre actor. He was born in Englewood, New Jersey and attended West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania....
as Sam - Minnie GentryMinnie GentryMinnie Gentry was an American actress.Gentry was born Minnie Lee Watson in Norfolk, Virginia, the daughter of Mincie and Taylor Watson. Her family moved to Cleveland during her childhood, where she began studying piano at the age of nine, at the Phyllis Wheatley School of Music...
as Mrs. Brown - Ren WoodsRen WoodsRen Woods is an American film and television actress/singer, best known for her role as Fanta in Roots, and also as the girl with flowers in her hair who sang "Aquarius" in the film version of Hair. Ren Woods began her singing career as a child and released two solo albums before returning her...
as Bernice - Fisher StevensFisher StevensFisher Stevens is an American actor, director and producer. His most recent successes include the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film The Cove and 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Crazy Love...
as card trickster - Dee Dee BridgewaterDee Dee BridgewaterDee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
as Malverne Davis
Production
Sayles spent part of his MacArthur FellowsMacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
"genius" grant on the film, which cost $350,000 to produce.
Reception
VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called it "vastly amusing but progressively erratic" film structured as a "series of behavioral vignettes, [many of which] are genuinely delightful and inventive"; as it continues, the film "takes a rather unpleasant and, ultimately, confusing turn." Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
called it a "nice, unsurprising shaggy-dog story that goes on far too long" but singled out "Joe Morton's sweet, wise, unaggressive performance." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying "the movie finds countless opportunities for humorous scenes, most of them with a quiet little bite, a way of causing us to look at our society", noting that "by using a central character who cannot talk, [Sayles] is sometimes able to explore the kinds of scenes that haven't been possible since the death of silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
."
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, in a 2003 review of the film's DVD release, says the film's superhero scenes are "often unintentionally silly, but again, Sayles shapes a catchy premise into a subtler piece, using Morton's 'alien' status as a way of asking who deserves to be called an outsider in a country born of outsiders"; commenting on the DVD, they note its "marvelous" audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
track by Sayles, "who moves fluidly from behind-the-scenes anecdotes to useful technical tips to unpretentious dissections of his own themes."