The Lathe of Heaven

(1980 USA David Loxton and Fred Barzyk)

There is a common saying in English: ‘May all your dreams come true.’ Imagine though, what actually would happen if one’s literal dreams changed the world. Ursula K. Le Guin wrote the eponymous novel, wherein a character named George Orr discovers that what he dreams while sleeping actually changes the present and past, and no one but himself is aware that anything ever was any different.

Terrorized by his unwanted power, he turns to pharmaceuticals to fall asleep. After illegally obtaining said drugs, he is arrested and ordered to see a dream specialist. Naturally, the doctor assigned to the case, Dr. Haber, considers George delusional, but soon discovers that his story is true. The doctor is convinced that he can manipulate George’s dreams and solve the world’s problems, from overpopulation to racism to war. Unfortunately, George is a flawed human being, suffering from depression, and his ‘solutions’ to the problems create new issues. Haber is certain that if he had George’s power, the world truly could be set right, and he attempts to bring this idea to fruition.

Filmed on a shoestring budget by a local PBS station, the film became the most popular program ever aired on public TV, proving that quality speculative fiction, based on ideas, can be at least as entertaining as special-effects blockbusters costing hundreds of times more.