A mute alien is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem in this thought-provoking cult classic, written and directed by John Sayles.

"...a true cosmic joke, a sly saintly fable about a black slave from outer space who lands in the most ironic promised land of all-Harlem. ... This odd, gentle soul's healing power, rooted more in his lust for life than in any interplanetary sleight-of-hand, gives The Brother From Another Planet a very earthly glow of warmth and redemption. Populated by a marvelous gallery of rootless, street-wise characters, the films uses its mute, pensive hero to give us a fresh look at our society, with all its harsh divisions."-Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 10/11/84

"A pleasantly rumpled sci-fi social comedy, with the laconic, strolling pace of an urban folktale, about an 'illegal alien' who ends up in Harlem after his UFO crash lands in the Hudson. This film about the ultimate outsider conveys the excitement (and terror) of seeing this familiar and well-worn world as if for the first time, through un-jaded alien eyes. Joe Morton, in a completely wordless yet amazingly eloquent performance, has mastered a demeanor of thirsty curiosity; the most familiar facts of big city living are 'made strange' when filtered through his perceptions."-David Chute, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 10/12/84

(back to June 2006 Newsletter front page)