In an interview with Norwegian magazine, VG (thanks, Sweden Posten), the Oscar-winning actor, Christian Bale, spoke about his very first film role and the perilous circumstances surrounding it. For those of us who are a little older, Mio in the Land of Faraway is a beloved childhood classic, based on Astrid Lindgren's work, Mio min Mio. But what many people didn't realise was that the film was shot in Crimea, Ukraine, around the same time as the horrific Chernobyl accident.
The lack of radiation damage is, in retrospect, a minor miracle, and during the two weeks the team was on location, detectors were used on the meals (among other things) to ensure they were safe to eat. Similarly, after much pleading, the child actors were even allowed to swim in the water, despite the radiation. In the interview, Bale said:
"It's unbelievable that I don't have a second head after that. They asked us to go home and stay there for two weeks. As if it has any significance for the half-life of the radiation. We had to use radiation detectors over our meals when we got back."
What do you remember about Mio in the Land of Faraway?