Background
In the early 19th century, the British Lord Elgin obtained a Firman from the Turkish authorities to remove the superbly sculpted marble frieze from the Parthenon in Athens.   He later sold the ‘Marbles’ to the British government. 

Theme of the story
Because of the daringly successful exploits of the English Admiral, Lord Nelson, the expression ‘The ‘Nelson Touch’ is a synonym for acts of audacious courage.  The story is of a present day exploit in the daring and audacious style of Lord Nelson.   Appropriately, the statue of Lord Nelson is cleverly stolen from Trafalgar square in the centre of London with the aim of holding it for ransom against the return of the ‘Elgin Marbles’ to Greece.

The story line
Michael Harris is the head of a respected family business in London, specialising in cleaning the exteriors of stone faced buildings.  The company is invited to bid for a prestigious British Government contract to clean the statue of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar square.  Harris and his Greek wife Eleni are in a phase of their life where even the smell of coffee is an excuse for an argument.
One evening, drinking beer with his buddies while watching the football match Liverpool against Panathiakos (Greek football team), an all out war began with Eleni, over a bottle of Greek wine. Liverpool was ahead, Harris was cheering, a few nasty words came out of his mouth against Panathinaikos, and Eleni simply smashed the T.V. with the bottle of wine. Harris knew better than to confront his wife when ever a Greek matter was at stake. That evening he made that fatal mistake. Now there is no going back. He must find a way to bring peace back to his home.
He decides to offer a practical demonstration for his deep love to Eleni, by stealing the statue of Admiral Nelson from the top of the huge column on which it sits, when it is covered by canvas screens for the cleaning process, then to smuggle it to the family’s Greek summer home on the island of Skiathos, rename the village square, Trafalgar Square and demand the return of the Parthenon frieze to Greece for the return of ’Lord Nelson’ to England.
The statue is successfully dismantled, but not without risk of failure and discovery. Scotland Yard detectives, the British Royal Navy, an irate British Prime Minister, quickly conclude that the statue is probably on a freighter bound for Greece.  The chase begins.
The movie is a controversial political satire, an adventure film, a detective story, a comedy and most but not least a love story.

back ...