Mio in the Land of Faraway facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mio in the Land of Faraway
Swedish DVD cover featuring 1987 promotional artwork.
Directed by	Vladimir Grammatikov
Produced by	Ingemar Ejve
Written by	William Aldridge
Starring	Christopher Lee Christian Bale Nicholas Pickard Timothy Bottoms Susannah York
Music by	Benny Andersson Anders Eljas
Cinematography	Aleksandr Antipenko Kjell Vassdal
Editing by	Darek Hodor
Studio	Nordisk Tonefilm International Gorky Film Studio
Distributed by	Sandrew Metronome
Release date(s)	July 1987 (1987-07) (MIFF) 18 August 1987 (1987-08-18) (NIFF) 16 October 1987 (1987-10-16) (Sweden)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	Sweden Soviet Union Norway
Language	English
Budget	SEK 55,000,000 (est.)
Money made	Sweden: SEK 17,799,205

Mio in the Land of Faraway (Swedish: Mio min Mio; Russian: Мио, мой Мио, romanized: Mio, moy Mio) is a 1987 fantasy film directed by Vladimir Grammatikov and starring Christopher Lee, Christian Bale, Nicholas Pickard, Timothy Bottoms and Susannah York. Based on the 1954 novel Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren, it tells the story of a boy from Stockholm who travels to an otherworldly fantasy realm and frees the land from an evil knight's oppression.

Mio in the Land of Faraway was co-produced by companies from Sweden, Norway and the Soviet Union with a budget of about fifty million Swedish kronor, making it the most expensive film adaptation of an Astrid Lindgren book during her lifetime. It featured an international cast consisting largely of British, Russian and Scandinavian actors, while its filming locations included Stockholm, Moscow, Crimea, and Scotland. The film was shot in English and subsequently dubbed in Swedish and Russian. Its special effects were created by Derek Meddings. The film's theme song, "Mio My Mio", was composed by two former ABBA members, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and performed by the Swedish band Gemini.

Released in 1987, the film saw Nicholas Pickard's debut as an actor and marked Christian Bale's first appearance in a feature film. It won the Cinekid Film Award in Amsterdam, while its theme song became a top three hit in Sweden. However, Swedish reviewers received the film unfavorably, criticizing it as a poor adaptation of Lindgren's novel.

Plot

The film opens in modern Stockholm. Orphaned by his mother's death and father's disappearance, Bosse (Nicholas Pickard) suffers neglect by his guardians Aunt Edna (Gunilla Nyroos) and Uncle Sixten, as well as abuse from bullies. His best friend is Benke (Christian Bale), whose father Bosse envies. Running away one night to seek his own father, Bosse meets the kindly shopkeeper Mrs Lundin (Linn Stokke), who gives him an apple and asks him to mail a postcard. The postcard is addressed to the Land of Faraway, informing its King of Bosse's impending journey there. After Bosse mails the postcard, his apple turns golden. Dropping the transfigured apple in shock, Bosse stumbles upon a genie (Geoffrey Staines) trapped in a bottle and frees it.

It turns out that this spirit has travelled from the Land of Faraway to seek Bosse, and that the golden apple is Bosse's identifying sign. With the boy clinging to his beard, the genie transports Bosse to the Land of Faraway and sets him down on Green Meadow Island. There, Bosse discovers that his real name is Mio, and that his father is the King (Timothy Bottoms). Treated with love and indulgence, Mio leads an idyllic life on Green Meadow Island. He receives the horse Miramis as a gift from his father and makes friends with the local children. The latter include the farm boy Jiri, the shepherd boy Nonno, and the royal gardener's son Jum-Jum, who turns out to be Benke's double. Together, Mio and Jum-Jum learn to play pan flute music from Nonno.

However, not all is well. From a whispering well, Mio learns that an iron-clawed knight from the Land Outside, Kato (Christopher Lee), has been kidnapping children and making them his servants by ripping out their hearts and replacing them with stone. Those who refuse to serve him are transformed into birds and condemned to circle his castle in flight. Even his name induces terror when spoken.

With Jum-Jum and Miramis, Mio leaves Green Meadow Island and journeys to the Forest of Mysteries, where he tears his cape on the briars. The Weaver Woman (Susannah York) receives the boys at her house, mending Mio's torn cape and sewing a new lining into it. Hearing the Bird of Grief lament for Kato's victims, and told that the Weaver Woman's daughter Millimani is among them, Mio gradually learns of his long-prophesied destiny to confront Kato in the Land Outside.

Journeying to the Land Outside, Mio and Jum-Jum meet Eno (Igor Yasulovich), a hungry old man living in a cave, and offer him food. In gratitude, Eno tells them to seek a weapon against Kato from the Forger of Swords, who has been imprisoned and enslaved by Kato in the Blackest Mountain beyond the Dead Forest. Meanwhile, Kato's servants capture Miramis. The boys are forced to continue their journey on foot, pursued by Kato's servants through the Dead Forest and the Blackest Mountain. Separated in the mountain's tunnels, the boys find each other by playing their pan-flutes. They finally reach the Forger of Swords (Sverre Anker Ousdal), who tells the boys about Kato's stone heart and provides Mio a sword capable of penetrating it.

Mio and Jum-Jum journey to Kato's castle, where they are captured and imprisoned. Kato throws Mio's sword into the lake outside the castle. However, Mio discovers that his newly lined cape turns him invisible when worn inside-out, and reclaims his sword with the help of Kato's birds. Armed and invisible, he escapes and makes his way to Kato's chamber, eluding the castle guards. Taking off his cloak, Mio challenges Kato to combat and eventually slays him. Turning into rock, the dead knight crumbles into pieces. Mio picks up Kato's stone heart and holds it outside a window, where it transforms into a bird and flies away.

Kato's birds turn back into children, Jum-Jum and Miramis are freed, and Kato's castle collapses into ruin. The Dead Forest begins to revive. Returning to Green Meadow Island, the children rejoin their families, and Mio rejoins his father. On this happy note, the film ends.

Cast

Soundtrack

In 1987, Gemini released the film's theme song "Mio My Mio" as a single and as part of their album Geminism. It became a hit in Sweden, with the single maintaining top ten position for 5 weeks.

In 1987 and 1988, CBS Records released the film's soundtrack on LP and CD. These releases included both "Mio My Mio" and the film's background music. The LP album (CBS 460594-8) contains the following tracks:

1. "Mio Overture" (Anders Eljas) – 3:16
2. "Kite-Flying" (Anders Eljas) – 1:26
3. "Aunt Edna's Waiting At Home" (Anders Eljas) – 0:44
4. "Bosse Runs Away" (Anders Eljas) – 4:36
5. "The Journey To The Land Of Faraway" (Anders Eljas, Benny Andersson) — 6:01
6. "The Shepherd's Flute #1" (Benny Andersson) — 0:27
7. "Kato's Icy Wind" (Anders Eljas) — 2:09
8. "The Bridge Of The Morning Light" (Anders Eljas) — 1:46
9. "The Land Outside" (Anders Eljas) — 1:51
10. "Miramis Is Captured" (Anders Eljas) — 1:58
11. "The Hunt For Mio And Jum-Jum" (Anders Eljas) — 1:40
12. "The Shepherd's Flute #2" (Benny Andersson) — 0:43
13. "The Sword" (Anders Eljas) — 1:00
14. "Inside Kato's Castle" (Anders Eljas) — 5:04
15. "Prisoners Of Kato" (Anders Eljas) — 0:40
16. "To The Dungeon" (Anders Eljas) — 1:32
17. "Return Of The Sword" (Anders Eljas) — 0:37
18. "The Final Battle" (Anders Eljas) — 5:36
19. "The Reunion" (Anders Eljas, Benny Andersson) — 1:44
20. "Mio My Mio" (Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus; performed by Gemini) — 3:55