Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018)

Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin: Directed by Arwen Curry. With Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin. Decades before Hogwarts, Ursula K. Le Guin invited young readers to wizard school in her classic Earthsea fantasy series, and dazzled the science fiction world with masterworks like The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed. Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin tells the groundbreaking author’s story in her own words, sprinkled with stunning animation and commentary from literary luminaries like Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, and Michael Chabon. Produced with Le Guin’s participation over ten years, Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin is a breathtaking journey through the late writer’s career and her worlds, both real and fantastic.

“WORLDS OF URSULA K. LeGUIN (2019). A solid, compact (68 mins.) overview of the famed speculative fiction author. With such a short running time, Arwen Curryu0026#39;s Documentary canu0026#39;t delve too deeply into a career that spanned decades, included dozens of novels, books and short stories and had such a profound influence on the arts; Instead, Curryu0026#39;s movie is more of an outline. An Introduction.nSome brief biographical details are included, as well as some original footage shot during the last years of her life (she passed in 2018). Rather than attempt a full bibliography of every book and story she wrote, the Doc focuses on a handful of writings to give the essence of her work. Particular emphasis is placed on LeGuinu0026#39;s landmark Earthsea series. Begun in 1968 (Wizard of Earthsea), Curry traces how LeGuinu0026#39;s 6 books went from pure fantasy to more developed SF themes to, by the end with 2001u0026#39;s The Other Wind, a grand vision. Curry shows how the Earthsea series reflected own maturity, not only as a writer, but, as a woman (some of her early work took an implicitly male-dominated viewpoint).nCurry includes some efficient animation by Ariel Martian to illustrate some of LeGuinu0026#39;s fantasy worlds, and, amusingly, intercuts footage from old sci-fi films to illustrate the difference between u0026#39;hardu0026#39; SF with LeGuinu0026#39;s more philosophical works. Interviews with celebrated writers extolling the influence of the author include Margaret Atwood, Michael Chabon and Neil Gaiman.nTHE WORLDS OF URSULA K. LeGUIN can best be summed up as an invitation to read her works with a bit of insight into her career as provided here.”