After escaping slavery on another planet, a three-toed alien (Joe Morton) crashes on Ellis Island and makes his way to Harlem. Assumed to be a homeless black man, the alien fits right into the multicultural swath of New York City, especially since he can fix both broken bones and broken machines just by touching them. Meanwhile, two men in black with unusual gaits and a fondness for DRAGNET-style dialogue prowl the streets of Harlem looking for the alien.

Although director John Sayles is more known for realistic character studies, his early training in film came from writing science fiction scripts for such films as ALLIGATOR and BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS. THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET demonstrates his aptitude for the sci-fi genre, though the film probably has more in common with Dante's INFERNO than Steven Spielberg's E.T. or John Carpenter's STARMAN. Sayles has the alien moving up and down New York City's social stratum, exposing both the minor triumphs of the city's poorer residents and the overarching structure of corruption and oppression. Seemingly a comedy, this film is actually a dramatic essay on racism, drug abuse, and corporate greed.

A mute extraterrestrial with healing powers lands in New York, looking remarkably like an African American male. He quickly makes his way to Harlem, where he manages to fit in, despite his inability to speak and his off-kilter way of doing things. However, the harmless visitor's stay on Earth might not last long, since two alien bounty hunters are combing the streets of the city looking for him.

Shown at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 1984.

Filmed on location in Harlem, New York City, with a crew that was half African American.

The film was fully financed by director-screenwriter John Sayles.

Excerpt: "You don't talk, huh? Well that's good. You don't talk, you don't talk people into things. You don't talk, you don't lie."--Randy Sue Carter (Caroline Aaron) to the Brother (Joe Morton)

"White folks get stranger all the time."--Smokey (Leonard Jackson) to rest of the bar patrons

"I'd rather be a cockroach on a baseball than the emperor of Mississippi."--Fly (Daryl Edwards) to bar patrons

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Featurette
Audio Commentary: John Sayles - Director

Joe Morton: American Actor
David Strathairn: American stage/film actor, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
John Sayles: Director/Writer/Producer
Fisher Stevens: American Film/TV Actor
Steve James: Actor, AMERICAN NINJA
Maggie Renzi: Producer
Rosette Le Noire: 

John Sayles: Director/Writer/Producer

"...[Sayles] has engaged both attention and sympathy..."
"...Vastly amusing....Genuinely delightful and inventive..."
"...Among the good things in it is Joe Morton's sweet, wise, unaggressive performance as the often bewildered Brother..."