1980s SF film

[peteryoung]

The Brother From Another Planet, 1984, USA   DIRECTED BY JOHN SAYLES
Alienation, love, despair, drugs, cultural misunderstanding and slavery: all experienced by the supposedly new-in-town immigrant who is literally from another planet. And he's symbolically crash-landed his spacecraft at Ellis Island Immigration Centre, New York – on paper at least, all this doesn't look like the most entertaining mixture of themes but Joe Morton’s charismatic performance as the speechless alien lightens the load considerably (and Morton's SF credentials since Brother have been pretty impeccable). His time on Earth is spent learning the hard way what life is like for Harlem's blacks, with varied abilities that mark him out as different including an ability to heal both men and machines with a glowing red touch, an aptitude for understanding the meaning of what is said when not knowing the language, and an ability to feel the emotions attached to inanimate objects. He also does that tacky party trick with his eyeballs, and get an eyeful of those feet. After his arrival this injured illegal alien – having quickly regrown a severed leg – is soon pursued by two Men In Black: alien slave-owners posing as human immigration officers (one played by writer and director John Sayles), both having difficulty fitting in not only with the Harlem neighbourhood, but – as in most MIB mythology – humans in general. There's not much comparison to be made with the filmed version of The Man Who Fell To Earth other than its shared theme of alienation, and Brother neither patronises its viewers nor stereotypes its cast – it's just a very cool and gently comedic riff on the lives of inner-city immigrants writ large. This minor cult film entered the public domain only five years after release as it contains no explicit copyright statement, making it a film that's certainly worth watching for free.

(Cross-posted with cult_movie)

Comments

[frandowdsofa.livejournal.com]

I remember it often being on a double bill with Repo Man. It is a lovely little film.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

About my favorite SF film from the 80s (and Repo Man, as mentioned above).