Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987)

6.3PG99 minDirector: Vladimir Grammatikov

1987 Swedish film by Vladimir Grammatikov

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. In contrast, Swedish reviewers received the film unfavorably, criticizing it as a poor adaptation of Lindgren's novel.

Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

FAQ

What is Mio in the Land of Faraway about?
Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987) — A fantasy about a lonely boy who is transported from his dull life with his cold adoptive parents to a pastoral land where he discovers his real father is the king. In that country, he sets out on a quest, together with his new friend, to destroy the evil knight Kato.
Is Mio in the Land of Faraway based on a true story?
See the production background and source material details on the official Wikipedia article.
Is Mio in the Land of Faraway scary?
Content rating: PG. See the reviews tab for parental guidance and tone notes.