Olympus has Fallen (5 Stars)

The word Olympus in the film's title refers to the White House. Supposedly it's the American secret service's codename for the White House. I wasn't aware of it before seeing this film.

The film is shockingly realistic in the way it shows how terrorists storm the White House and capture the president. The attack is expertly planned by a paramilitary force. They begin by attacking random civilians as a distraction. That's the way terrorists work. Innocent people are killed. Then the White House itself is attacked.

What's less realistic is that one man, the secret service agent Mike Banning, is able to single-handedly overpower the terrorist group. That's the main criticism of the film by the serious film critics. It's not a problem for me. Every film needs a hero. We cheer for the underdog.

Could something like this really happen? It's possible. The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center proved that America is vulnerable. It was the element of surprise. A future attack that involves crashing passenger aircraft wouldn't work again. There are now procedures in place to stop it happening. But attacks of a different type are still possible.

America is a controversial country. Some people think of it as the land of liberty, others think of it as an evil country. It depends where you're coming from. Most people are biased in their judgement of America, one way or the other. People who are opposed to democracy hate America. I should say, people whose leaders are opposed to democracy hate America. I've discovered that friends of mine from Middle Eastern countries have twisted views of America, because they believe what their leaders tell them. Today everyone has access to the Internet, so they should be able to tell right from wrong, but the standard line is that the western media outlets publish fake news; i.e. "Our news is correct, everything from the West is false". Let's not be too harsh on them for being so easily brainwashed. If I lived in a country like that, would I think any differently? Probably not.

As for the people who live in America, their patriotism blinds them to the faults of their country. I'm generalising, of course, but generalisations are generally true, which is why they're called generalisations. There's nothing wrong with being patriotic. Everyone can love his country. It's one of the most natural things in the world. I love England. I say England deliberately, because I consider myself English first and British second. However, I wouldn't say that England is better than every other country. I've lived abroad for so many years that I can appreciate the advantages of other countries. Germany definitely has a better political system than Britain. (Britain has a united government, so it wouldn't be correct to say England in this case). Germany has better health care than Britain overall, although Britain has better dental care. And Germany has better wine.

When I lived in America I worked for a German company, Siemens. Only about 200 of the 600 employees were American citizens; the rest were Germans and French. I was the only Englishman. I noticed something about my American colleagues. When the Americans sat together they moaned about their president. (It was Bill Clinton at the time). But as soon as the foreigners joined in the conversation they went on the defensive. They said that foreigners have no right to criticise the American president. They're wrong. A foreigner in America is more capable of seeing things neutrally.

Nevertheless, I try to avoid discussing politics with Americans. Sometimes I'm drawn into it, but I try not to go too far. Recently I met an American in Stuttgart, a member of my film group. He started a discussion about politics, and I let him know that I disagreed. That was a mistake. He wouldn't drop the subject, and he kept going on about it, making everyone around us feel uncomfortable. Next time I'll bite my tongue.

There's one thing I love about America. It's the country where my favourite films are made. In my list of my top 100 films, 58 of them are American. That's something which will always make America special in my heart.

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