The Brother From Another Planet movie review
I will never forget the day when I landed in Japan for the first time to actually live there. It looked so foreign and I did not understand a word. Thankfully I could speak Japanese soon enough and had a great time there.
What if you couldn’t even talk and it was not just another country that you were visiting? Yes, in the film “The Brother From Another Planet” Joe Morton is from another planet but also happens to be a slave who escapes and slave catchers are after him. Of all the places on our planet, he lands in Harlem, New York City.
As many films tell powerful stories using the eyes of a child, for example, director John Sayles uses a mute man from the other world to show us our own world in all its glory and its ugly side. When you see issues like skin color, poverty, drugs, relationships, and fitting in, it makes you reflect on how we live and what we can do to make our society better.
One would have expected that the main character (all other characters are inconsequential) being unable to utter a word will make things difficult, but as I watched the movie I realized that the movie was more powerful because it allowed Morton to use his facial expressions and body gestures to communicate much more effectively. It is fascinating to see how much more people talk when they encounter a mute (or even a quiet) person. Reminded me so much of another movie with practically no dialogs: Les Triplettes de Belleville (a French movie released as The Triplets of Belleville).
If you like a great mix of science fiction, dark humor, provocative plot, and great acting, you will love this film that is not as widely known as it should be.
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