Cult Classics: The Brother from Another Planet

By Nate Storey

Directed by John Sayles
Joe Morton as The Brother
David Strathairn as Man in Black

Synopsis: The film tells the story of an escaped alien slave, called “The Brother,” who lands in Harlem, New York in the 1980s. He is taken to be a homeless black man, though he is mute and unbeknownst to those he encounters, has three large toes on each foot. He possesses telekinetic powers and is able to use these powers to heal wounds and fix machines.

Why It’s Great: This movie is great just based on the title. A brother, from another planet. What else could you ask for in a title? Joe Morton (Terminator 2, American Gangster) is superb as the mute alien brother, and it’s amusing to see Edward R. Murrow (see Strathairn in Good Night and Good Luck) playing such a weird, emotional character. Morton’s performance brings a naiveté and innocence to the screen that I feel could only have been captured so strongly with the silence of the character next to the noise and bustle of New York City. The film touches on some interesting themes, most notably immigration and race. The Brother is called a “Three-Toe” in a derogatory manner akin to a racial slur (bringing attention to how rough blacks have it on Earth), and the way that the alien characters interact with the native Harlem-ites are great caricatures of immigrants moving to New York. The Brother encounters everything from fruit stand clerks to street basketball players to children playing arcade games, and he treats them all with this open-eyed outlook and everyone just takes him for a foreigner who doesn’t know any English. The movie is part comedy, part drama, and part science fiction, but all together it’s a cult classic.

Memorable Scene: Some of the best scenes take place in a bar that The Brother discovers in which the bartender and regulars take pity on him and befriend him. The groups sits and philosophizes in a witty but meaningful way, and when they end up defending The Brother from the Men in Black, it rings true to the story and the characters.

Quotes:

Card Trickster: I have another magic trick for you. Wanna see me make all the white people disappear?

Man In Black: [sitting at the bar] Beer.
Odell: What kind?
Man In Black: Draft.
Man In Black: On the rocks.
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 (1949).

The “Men In Black” are named Uno (played by John Sayles) and Dos (played by David Strathairn). Although they are not named in the film or end credits, the names were revealed in a photo caption on page 39 of Starlog magazine (#86, September 1984) as part of an interview with director Sayles.