Lathe of Heaven (film)

Last updated
Lathe of Heaven
Lathe of heaven.jpg
DVD cover
Genre
Based on The Lathe of Heaven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Written by Alan Sharp
Directed by Philip Haas
Starring
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
  • Craig Baumgarten
  • Allen Sabinson
ProducerMark Winemaker
Production location Montreal
Cinematography Pierre Mignot
EditorJean-François Bergeron
Running time91 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network A&E
ReleaseSeptember 8, 2002 (2002-09-08)

Lathe of Heaven is a 2002 American science fiction television film based on the 1971 novel The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, which was previously adapted as a television film in 1980. The film was directed by Philip Haas, written by Alan Sharp, and stars James Caan, Lukas Haas, and Lisa Bonet. It aired on A&E on September 8, 2002. It was nominated at the 29th Saturn Awards for Best Single Program Presentation. [1]

Contents

Synopsis

Unlike the 1980 adaptation, this film discards a significant portion of the plot, some minor characters, and much of the philosophical underpinnings of the book. The alien invasion and the racial equalization were removed for this adaptation.

The film takes place in a futuristic society, where a young man named George Orr overdoses using someone else's pharmacy card. Orr is troubled by his dreams, and is implied to be suicidal because of them. He takes drugs to avoid having these dreams. After he is caught overdosing, his attorney Heather Lelache sends him to a psychologist as a punishment.

The psychologist, William Haber, uses a machine called an "augmentor" to delve deep into Orr's mind. The augmentor looks like a dentist's chair. It is soon obvious that Haber has sinister intentions. He begins to hypnotize Orr into dreaming about a horse in a field. When Orr wakes up from his hypnosis-induced dream, an image of Lady Godiva on a horse is now painted on the wall in the office.

Haber then begins to use Orr's power for his own personal gain. At one point, he changes his status from an M.D. to a highly renowned researcher.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Montreal. [2]

Related Research Articles

Lilakoi Moon, known professionally as Lisa Bonet, is an American actress. She portrayed Denise Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992), for which she earned widespread acclaim and a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1986; she reprised the role of Denise in the first season of the spinoff series A Different World.

<i>Monkey</i> (TV series) Japanese television drama

Saiyūki,, is a Japanese television drama based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en. Filmed in Northwest China and Inner Mongolia, the show was produced by Nippon TV and International Television Films and broadcast from 1978 to 1980 on Nippon TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Caan</span> American actor (1940–2022)

James Edmund Caan was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance that earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion-picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Dillon</span> American actor (born 1964)

Matthew Raymond Dillon is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award nomination and Grammy nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katharine Ross</span> American actress and author (born 1940)

Katharine Juliet Ross is an American actress on film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lukas Haas</span> American actor

Lukas Daniel Haas is an American actor and musician. His acting career has spanned four decades, during which he has appeared in more than 50 feature films and a number of television shows and stage productions. His notable credits include in the films Witness (1985), Mars Attacks! (1996), Inception (2010), The Revenant (2015) and First Man (2018).

<i>Angel Heart</i> 1987 film by Alan Parker

Angel Heart is a 1987 American neo-noir psychological horror film, an adaptation of William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel Falling Angel. The film was written and directed by Alan Parker, and stars Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, and Charlotte Rampling. Harry Angel (Rourke), a New York City private investigator, is hired to solve the disappearance of a man known as Johnny Favorite. His investigation takes him to New Orleans, where he becomes embroiled in a series of brutal murders.

<i>The Lathe of Heaven</i> 1971 novel by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Lathe of Heaven is a 1971 science fiction novel by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, first serialized in the American science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. It received nominations for the 1972 Hugo and the 1971 Nebula Award, and won the Locus Award for Best Novel in 1972. Two television film adaptations were released: the PBS production, The Lathe of Heaven (1980), and Lathe of Heaven (2002), a remake produced by the A&E Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Caan</span> American actor (born 1976)

Scott Andrew Caan is an American actor, director, photographer, writer, and former rapper. He received his breakthrough role in Ocean’s Eleven as Turk Malloy, who he played in the Ocean's trilogy, and starred as Detective Danny "Danno" Williams in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0 (2010–2020), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Caan had a recurring role as manager Scott Lavin in the HBO television series Entourage (2009–2011). In the 1990s, he was a rapper and was a part of hip hop group The Whooliganz with The Alchemist, under the pseudonym Mad Skillz.

<i>Freebie and the Bean</i> 1974 film by Richard Rush

Freebie and the Bean is a 1974 American buddy cop black comedy action film starring James Caan and Alan Arkin, and directed by Richard Rush. The film follows two offbeat police detectives who wreak havoc in San Francisco attempting to bring down an organized crime boss. The film, which had been originally scripted as a serious crime drama, morphed into what is now known as the "buddy-cop" genre due to the bantering, improvisational nature of the acting by Caan and Arkin. Reportedly, by the end of filming, both actors were confused by the purpose of the movie, not knowing that they had stumbled into a successful character formula. The film was popular enough to spawn various other successful film franchises such as, Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop. Loretta Swit and Valerie Harper appeared in support roles.

<i>David and Lisa</i> 1962 American drama television film directed by Frank Perry

David and Lisa is a 1962 American drama film directed by Frank Perry. It is based on the second story in the two-in-one novellas Jordi/Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin; the screenplay, written by Frank Perry's wife Eleanor Perry, tells the story of a bright young man suffering from a mental illness which, among other symptoms, has instilled in him a fear of being touched. This lands him in a residential treatment center, where he meets Lisa, a similarly ill young woman who displays a split personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Momoa</span> American actor (born 1979)

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Jason Ioane on the syndicated action drama series Baywatch: Hawaii (1999–2001), which was followed by portrayals of Ronon Dex on the Syfy science fiction series Stargate Atlantis (2005–2009), and Khal Drogo in the first two seasons of the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2012). He went on to play the lead roles in the Discovery Channel historical drama series Frontier (2016–2018) and the Apple TV+ science fiction series See (2019–2022).

<i>Misery</i> (film) 1990 film by Rob Reiner

Misery is a 1990 American psychological thriller film directed by Rob Reiner, based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name, starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Lauren Bacall, Richard Farnsworth, and Frances Sternhagen. The plot centers around an author who is held captive by an obsessive fan who forces him to rewrite the finale to his novel series.

<i>Games</i> (film) 1967 psychological thriller film directed by Curtis Harrington

Games is a 1967 American psychological horror film directed by Curtis Harrington, and starring Simone Signoret, James Caan, and Katharine Ross. Its plot follows two jaded Manhattan socialites who engage in a series of mind games with a German cosmetics agent whom they invite into their home.

<i>The Lathe of Heaven</i> (film) 1980 film by David Loxton

The Lathe of Heaven is a 1980 film adaptation of the 1971 science fiction novel The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was produced in 1979 as part of New York City public television station WNET's Experimental TV Lab project, and directed by David Loxton and Fred Barzyk. Le Guin, by her own account, was involved in the casting, script planning, rewriting, and filming of the production.

<i>Wisegal</i> American TV series or program

Wisegal is a 2008 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Jerry Ciccoritti and starring Alyssa Milano, James Caan and Jason Gedrick. The film premiered on Lifetime on March 15, 2008.

The 10th Youth in Film Awards ceremony, presented by the Youth in Film Association, honored outstanding youth performers under the age of 21 in the fields of film, television, theater and music for the 1987-1988 season, and took place on May 6, 1989, at the Registry Hotel in Universal City, California.

<i>Hide in Plain Sight</i> 1980 American film

Hide in Plain Sight is a 1980 American drama film directed by and starring James Caan with the story line based on an actual case from the files of New York attorney Salvatore R. Martoche who represented Tom Leonhard, a real-life Buffalo, New York, victim who had sued to recover contact with his children estranged by the culpability of the new husband and government, soon realizing his own past is coming back to get him.

<i>Chapter Two</i> (film) 1979 film by Robert Moore

Chapter Two is a 1979 American Metrocolor romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Moore, produced by Ray Stark, and based on Neil Simon's 1977 Broadway play of the same name. It has a 124-minute running time. It stars James Caan and Marsha Mason, in an Academy Award-nominated performance.

<i>Westworld</i> American science fiction–thriller media franchise

Westworld is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film Westworld, written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populated by androids that malfunction and begin killing the human visitors; it was followed by the sequel film Futureworld (1976). The franchise moved to television in 1980 with the short-lived series Beyond Westworld on CBS. In 2016 a new television series based on the original film debuted on HBO; the critically acclaimed series broadcast four full seasons before being cancelled.

References

  1. Phillips, Jevon (March 6, 2003). "'Towers,' 'Report' top Saturn nominees". Variety . Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  2. Speier, Michael (September 4, 2002). "Lathe of Heaven". Variety . Retrieved October 28, 2022.