A story that is out of this world

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By KWAME M.A. SOMBURU CC Nov. 15, 1984, marked the 100th anniversary of the Berlin ConThe Brother from another Planet, a film by John Sayles.

It is very rare that a movie can be so thoroughly political, so transparent in its message, and yet be so uncomprothat lasted until the 1920s. mising in its adherence to artistic princiHistorian Sir Harry H. Johnston, who served as a British ples. Through humor and originality, "Brother from another Planet" John Sayles' latest film, succeeds in presenting a stinging indictment of racism in the United States.

The "brother" is a runaway slave from another planet whose spaceship won't have any national language of his own." crashes on Ellis Island. He makes his way to Harlem eventually, and, after a The role of observer that was generally played by the United few initial comic mishaps, he learns MOVIE REVIEW basic Earth customs, finds a place to stay, and gets a job—all without being regimes in their place. able to speak. His extraterrestrial abiliThe United States is currently considering the Seychelles Islands ties—he can heal wounds and fix electronic gadgets with a touch of his hand—help him surmount his other difficulties.

The two intertwined plots in this film deal with his fight to escape two white extraterrestrial cops (one played by of Diego Garcia. John Sayles) and his attempt to come to "The events in the Seychelles are a microcosm of a problem grips with the social reality of Harlem (he goes after a white businessman who is making money by supplying heroin half-dozen potential Grenadas around the world."

Massive opposition to this government's reactionary plans— to Blacks in Harlem). The weaving together of these two plots is done so skillfully that the obvious parallels between the situation of Blacks in the United States and his situation as a fugitive from oppression do not intrude on the story that is being told..

Sayles has considerably improved his craft since his earliest success, "The Return of the Secaucus Seven."

Still a master of low-budget filmmaking, he uses New York City, particularly Harlem, as an inexpensive backdrop. The parade of characters that wander through this film-ranging from welfare department bureaucrats to Rastrafarians—capture the feeling of New York life.

The film is consistently funny and it utilizes its humor to make much of its social commentary. In one scene on a New York subway, the "brother" is shown an elaborate card trick by a street-wise card shark. At the 59th Street stop on the A-train (next stop is 125th Street in Harlem), he says to the "brother,' "Want to see another trick? I can make all the white people disappear."

Above all, "Brother from Another Planet" points, unequivocally and without embarrassment, to the bonds of solidarity that become the only protection for this fugitive from slavery. This quality alone makes the film stand out from the usual quasi-political offerings that periodically come out of Hollywood. •