Review of Lathe of Heaven (2002) by Greg W — 06 Jan 2011

Ursula K. Le Guin is something of an enigma amongst Sci-Fi writers - her books are very successful but very little has been put to film - the Lathe of Heaven is especially unusual amongst her works as it has been filmed twice.

This 2002 version is the latest and biggest budget attempt featuring a good cast including the "A"ish list James Caan. Watching the story unfold I am reminded of the similarities between the science of sci-fi and magic of fantasy.

I am also left in little doubt that, to writers like Le Guin, sci-fi is simply a medium for exploring issues and philosophies that would be too constrained by the limits of the "real" world.

This is a pretty good film version of the book albeit with some major changes and, if you don't mind taking your sci-fi neat, I recommend you give it a try.