The Lathe of Heaven
Tags: alternate reality

Plot synopsis:
In Portland, Oregon, in the near future, George Orr is charged with misuse of multiple prescription medications, which he was taking to keep himself from dreaming; he volunteers for psychiatric care to avoid prosecution, and is assigned to the care of licensed oneirologist William Haber. Orr's explanation of his drug abuse is incredible: he has known since age 17 that his dreams change reality, and tries to prevent himself from dreaming because he fears their effects.
Haber initially considers Orr's fear as a delusional symptom of neurosis or psychosis, referring to him as "possibly an intelligent schizophrenic". He puts Orr into a hypnotic trance, and encourages him to have an "effective dream" to record his brain function.
When he realizes Orr is telling the truth, Haber begins to use Orr's "effective dreams" to first create a prestigious, well-funded institute run by himself, then to attempt to solve various social problems. These solutions unravel quickly: Haber suggests that Orr dream of an end to racism (resulting in a world where everyone's skin becomes a uniform shade of gray), a solution to overpopulation (resulting in a plague wiping out three-fourths of the human population), the end to all conflict on Earth (resulting in an alien invasion uniting mankind).
Only after numerous failed attempts to "make the world right", Haber admits to Orr he believes in Orr's power. Having analyzed Orr's supremely complex dreaming brainwaves, Haber begins creating a machine that will similarly enhance his own and allow him to remake reality directly.
Orr turns to lawyer Heather LeLache for help in getting out of his government-mandated treatments with Haber. LeLache doubts Orr's sanity, but agrees to help him, eventually becoming an ally.
As Haber continues to use Orr to create change in human society, Orr remembers a dream he experienced years ago, which is briefly portrayed at the opening of the film (and which, it turns out, is in fact reality): the world was destroyed in a nuclear war, and Orr had been dying from radiation poisoning. In his dying moments, Orr dreams a world where the war did not happen, resulting in the events of the film as we saw them.
Haber enters the final version of his machine for directing dreams, and learns this truth, driving him mad. Orr had joined him in the dream state, and was able to change the world back to a relatively normal version - not destroyed, and not severely altered.
The end of the film shows Orr working in an antique store run by an alien, with LeLache coming in to browse. She has no memory of him, but agrees to have lunch with him. They encounter Haber, wheelchair bound, on their way to lunch, and Haber recognizes Orr, but cannot come out of his catatonia.

Review: I had public television on several days ago (March 10, 2001) and "Lathe of Heaven" was starting on their series "Movies Worth Taping".
It was made in 1987 as the first made-for-public-TV film, and is based on a novel by Ursula Le Guin.This movie explores the notion of "effective dreaming", where one's dreams actually come true.
When he has these dreams, he wakes to find that his dreamt-up situations are now not only reality, but other people suddenly have adapted as if this reality has been with the world for some time.George is traumatized by these dreams, and seeks the help of Dr. William Haber (Kevin Conway).
Dr. Haber's intentions are good, to harness the power of these effective dreams to the betterment of the world, but he clearly abuses the doctor-patient relationship and hypnotizes George to have specific kinds of dreams.
One motto of this film might be "be careful what you dream about"!I found the special effects sometimes interesting, but often heavy-handed and not so smoothly executed.
"The Lathe of Heaven" doesn't have the fresh and exciting visual effects of earlier science fiction films like "2001" or later ones, but is an interesting film that is a must see for science fiction fans..
Bruce Davison (recently the Senator in "X-men") played the protagonist, George Orr. And various Metroplex locations stood in for Portland in the near-future year of 2002.
Because if he does dream a special kind of dream, an "effective" dream, it changes reality "all the way back to the Stone Age".Dr. William Haber is an oneirologist: a dream specialist.
If you check amazon.com, as I did last night, you will find that this is a bald-faced lie: TLoH will be released on VHS and DVD later this month, with the interviews and all.The only thing that burned my butt about the film that I saw last night was the one change they made.
It takes quite a bit of thought to really follow the plot if you haven't read the book, but it's worth watching several times.
This wasn't because of special effects, lasers or destructive monsters, but because of the psychological element of control and power that plagues the mind.Based on the phenomenal book by Ursula Le Guin, the film does the book justice.
Though, in the end, a book is a book and a movie is a movie, lovers of the novel will not be disappointed.If you love a great story, full of conflict, tension and surprises, you will enjoy this romp through the mind of George Orr and his inherent angst and strife.
No more rip-offs of rip-offs of old movie serials: we were finally going to see "real" science fiction on television again (for the first time since the '60's); not the compromise of commercial television but the kind of SF that could only come from Public Television.
The story is wildly original: what would the world be like if your dreams all came true- not your daydreams, but the uncontrollable ones at night?.
I was quite please since now I know what to look for.This movie is true classic Science Fiction right up there with Forbidden Planet and many others and has had a profound effect on my concepts and perception of reality and recommend it not only to sci-fi enthusiasts but people who are into psychology studies too.
Movies like The Lathe of Heaven, Brazil, and other such psycho-dramas can help us to understand ourselves in very unconventional ways..
I first saw this film on PBS when I was 15 and was totally engrossed as it was one of the most unique and compelling movies I'd ever seen.
I was surprised to find that it was still as absorbing as it was in 1980.The story revolves around George Orr (played very well by Bruce Davison of X-Men) , a simple, ordinary and good-hearted guy who feels cursed with the ability to dream "effective dreams" or dreams that change the face of reality.
This was finally re-shown here on OPB in Portland during the spring membership drive after it's first and only showing in 1980 or so (apparently it was the most requested show of all time) and it is a rather effective piece of science fiction.George Orr, a simple man by most standards, has dreams that change the world, and after overdosing on drugs trying to quell these dreams, he is charged to the care of Dr. Haber -- a well meaning and philanthropic therapist.
Dr. Haber recognizes George's ability to change the future via dreaming of alternate realities, and he adopts a plan to create a perfect world by suggesting dreams of ridding humanity of the scourges that plague it (overpopulation, racism, war, etc) to George through hypnosis.
George in his simplicity realizes that there is no "perfect world", and that the meaning of human existence is not necessarily to create a perfect world, a concept that Dr. Haber fails to grasp.It's a movie that's very definitive of the science fiction of the time, watching it made me think of Huxley's Brave New World, and even THX 1138, although comparisons can hardly be drawn.
You can see George go from a psychological mess to a man with a surprising strength of will, while Doctor Haber becomes less interested in helping George with his problems and more interested in using him to change the world...with or without George's consent.The special effects are not as bad as I've been told and they don't really distract from the story.
Don't be surprised if you find yourself wondering if you could have done better in either character's place, or paying closer attention to your dreams right after you see this film..
As the die-hard science fiction fans know, special effects are great, but without a great story, it won't stand the test of time.Based on Ursula K.
And easily one of the very best made for t.v. movies ever.The effects are low budget, but that's not important, the story is amazing.
Great science fiction frames the familiar, in a new context and sheds truth on things we were unable to recognize in their mundane form.This story moved me, in the way the book Stranger in a Strange Land did.
Like the first time I read 2001 (The movie is meaningless without the book).It is a story about reality, how we perceive it, how we shape it.
This is of course told in an abstracted way, but the message is clear.If you are looking for crazy robots and sleek starships, move on.If you are looking for a thought provoking story, that will stick with you for days, or as I see with myself and others here, decades, then this is a cult classic that you simply can not miss.I would have given it a 10, but the effects are low budget, though that does not make it any less amazing..
I absolutely loved this movie when I first saw in on TV in the 70's and looked for it for years before I finally found and bought a VHS copy.In many ways, I think this is the finest bit of SF ever to be put on TV.
This eschewed all of them and instead provided a thought-provoking and sometimes funny look at man's relation to reality.Its difficult to say more without spoiling some of the more wonderful moments of the film, but I very much enjoyed seeing how the various characters interacted with each other throughout the film as the circumstances changed..
Now that it is at last available on video and DVD, I candefinitely say that it is one of the best science fiction films ofall time (and you'll note I do NOT say "Sci-Fi").
This movie is a piece of sci-fi "heaven."  The plot, special effects, and overall feel to the movie leaves the viewer in a state of complete contemplation of what could be if our thoughts could become reality through our dreams.
I thought this was one of the best science fiction movies of all time.
This movie left such a strong impression on me when I watched it in 1980 that when the DVD was released a couple years ago I was surprised how much of the film I remembered.The story is less straight sci-fi and more a format for Le Guin to explore the philosophical differences between the elite masters of technology trying to shape our world and ordinary human beings who can only live in it.
In this film, it is the Orr-dinary human being who has the power, even if he can't quite control it.George Orr (ordinary?) has a zen-like outlook on life that ultimately allows him to survive his world-altering dreams with his sanity intact, the same can't be said for...well you'll have to watch and find out!.
It's a significant sci-fi film and one whose plot (considering the book was written in the early 60's) has "inspired" (ripped-off is another synonym that comes to mind) many sci-fi tales since.That being said, I just want to say that it's not the substitution of The Beatles "With a Little Help From My Friends" with a bland cover version (the singer sounds like a Randy Newman clone) that angers me so much--I realize due to right's costs this may have been the only affordable way this film could see the light of day again, it's the fact that nowhere on the DVD notes or even in the disclaimer at the beginning of the film explaining how they had to rescue the film from a copy since the original print was lost does it even ACKNOWLEDGE they had to make a substitution!
George Orr, a dreamer that could turn dreams into reality(even if he was not at the Lab of Dr. Habber); was the main character in this mysterious scifi TV movie.
A little cloudy in parts but the plot almost dictates that this will be the case - the observer has to keep up with current events as they change each time George dreams a new reality.For a die hard sci-fi fan such as myself, this vision has a good dark-future feeling to it much in the equilibrium style with many elements of the "butterfly effect" plot evident.A fairly slow moving pace, good acting all round and of course the beautiful Margaret Avery as the lead female.If you're a sci-fier and enjoyed the butterfly effect then give this movie a watch - I thoroughly enjoyed it..
I think about this film every time I hear the song "With a Little Help From My Friends," which played an important part in the movie.
It is a great example of a low budget science fiction film that succeeds on every level.
But Lathe stands on a good story, an interesting morality play, and it doesn't feel like a video game.
If you see only 1 science fiction movie in your lifetime, let it be the 1980 The Lathe of Heaven based on Ursula K.
For those who saw it on PBS (aired 12 times, I think), there was nothing like the scene when George runs up on the roof to see the clouds clearing with the original "with a little help from my friends" playing in the background.
Most of the movie was pulled from the book but the story is a bit different.Do NOT waste your time on the remake, it is terrible.
Though the movie is clearly a product of its time, the ideas seem to have a perpetual life and are even more relevant to me today (i.e do-gooder interventions, futility of over-control of complex events, and enlightenment to those who choose not to intervene).Nice work PBS and you deserve all the credit for making the stretch to keep us entertained.
I often hear, or read, reviews that say something to the effect, "It was nothing like the book," or "They followed the book exactly." To those reviews I say "Who cares?" The Lathe of Heaven is an excelent example of how following the book exactly does not mean that the movie is excellent.
I like it far better than "Snowcrash," or "Neuromancer." This movie is poorly acted, has special effects that are laughable, was edited by a heavy handed oaf without an artistic bone in his body, and has a soundtrack so bad that the "Flash Gordon" sound track looks good in comparison.
Not all that long after it was written, this movie adaptation was done for original TV broadcast, so it has a low-budget feel to it, and the lead actors (Bruce Davison, Kevin Conway, Margaret Avery) weren't all that well known at the time.
It's such a great story and so easily translatable to the screen for today's SF-familiar audiences that you can easily imagine a much bigger-budget superb production being done now complete with advanced CGI that would do justice to the hero George Orr's world-changing visions.George Orr (Davison) is a perfectly ordinary, nice, low-key guy except for one thing: when pressed into it, he has "effective dreams" that change reality and rewrite history.
George's torturous journey through one history after another and eventual resolution are the substance of the movie.This production disappeared for a long time after its original airing, but finally now you can see it on YouTube.
A sensitive, thoughtful adaptation of the Ursula LeGuin classic about dreams, power, responsibility, Taoism, reality, unreality, and being in & at one with the world, it's blessed with three strong & subtle performances.
The film knows that real science-fiction isn't about special effects; it's about people & ideas.
Builds slowly, nicely done, but could have been much more tightly edited, hopefully the new version will be an improvement.The story, which deals with the nature of reality, is excellent, and I recommend the book, but the execution of this made for TV movie is below average, and tends to put me to sleep..
The idea is interesting, a man can change reality with his dreams but these changes are at the mercy of his subconscious so we get an easy excuse for disasters and surprises.The special effects are awful, really cheap and comical at time.The acting is good, only a small cast who are fairly convincing in their roles.The plot is also good, the characters are believable in their reactions, some trying to control things others to escape.The film is let down by a poor ending, it is weak and silly and makes the film pointless..
This adaptation of Le Guin's best book tells the intriguing story of a man whos dreams change reality and a psychiatrist who uses that gift/curse for his own ends.It's not a slick production, being mainly 2 or 3 people having conversations and some dream sequences that attempt to tell large stories with small special effects, but it's still very effective.
I first watched this movie with my dad on its original broadcast, and the only reason I understand the scene is because he, having read the book several times (he taught a class in sci-fi literature), knew exactly what was going on.
PBS's first ever made-for-TV movie is an ambitious adaptation of a classic sci-fi novel by Ursula K.
One can go a little bit more metaphysical and consider that the psychologist is actually a person in a reality dreamed of by George, so its all, in a sense about him, not about the world.The film, however, would have felt dated even in 1980, I think.
The plot follows the story faithfully - after all Ursula LeGuin consulted on the movie - but doesn't bring anything new.Bottom line: a very intriguing and thought provoking idea, but a less stellar adaptation..
Why couldn't the producers license the copyright to use the actual Beatle recording of,"Little Help from My Friends,"instead of some cheap knock off?I have my own hypothesis about the film, George Orr experiencing terminal radiation sickness from the global nuclear conflagration is merely dreaming up these alternate realities in the few nanoseconds prior to his own death..
Once George wakens, he is the only person to remember the alternative past, that is until he visits a psychiatrist who realizes the potential of George's dreams and sets out to 'right' the world with fantastic consequences.This film is full of ambiguous metaphor and allegory so that everyone seems to see something a little different.
So all in all it really wasn't that bizarre for George to be thinking about aliens because even though the film is set in 1998, it's very much a product of the 70's.The copy I watched had an interview with the author, Leguin, who declined to interpret the book/movie as she wasn't entirely sure of all the meanings both might hold.
For non-space opera/bullet-time sci-fi fans, this is right up there with SOLARIS (either version) or GATTACA (another underrated classic; a deft blend of BRAVE NEW WORLD and film noir).
We remember the line when he tells George Orr, "we are going to make the world right." But the elemental forces of nature cannot be controlled by neither God or man, and regardless of our noble intentions, there are dark consequences every time we try do to something to better ourselves.
The interpretation I made the first time I viewed the film was this, although you may interpret any which way you'd like - the individual (George Orr), each of us, man or woman, is an instrument or sum of nature and we are as if part of a bigger dream or series of dreams that is our lifetime, the dreams ending completely when we die.
Like one of George Orr's dreams..
LeGuin's novel about George Orr, a young man whose dreams literally do come true and a scheming, manipulative psychiatrist who attempts to control him for his own purposes.
Once we understand the trick of the story – the inadvertently evil Dr. Haber's attempt to force 'effective dreamer' George Orr to have dreams that will change the world for the better keeps inevitably backfiring – the film gets repetitive.