‘Are you happy with the script?’

‘It comes from the highest possible source.’

‘Who is the screenwriter?’

‘I was referring to the basic material, or Bible if you prefer. “Divinely inspired”, some critics have been kind enough to say.’

‘A bit long and rambling, though. Hitchcock said that to film a novel you first have to cut it down to a short story.’

‘Which is where all novels started out and most should have stopped. And it was Truffaut, actually.’

Annalise Kirchner consulted her notes in a frigid fluster.

‘Are you employing a theological consultant, maestro?’

‘No pieces of silver have yet changed hands, but the subject naturally comes up when I meet one of my many friends in the Vatican.’

‘How about alternative scenarios for the end of historical time? Do you plan to consult any scientists?’

‘I simply can’t be bothered. Atheists are such bores. They talk about God all the time.’

‘Do you see this movie as making some sort of statement, and if so, what is it?’

Luciano Aldobrandini sighed. The young woman was quite decorative, if you liked that sort of thing, but clearly an idiot. It was time for him to take charge.

‘Fraulein Kirchner, I have made many movies. Too many, some have said. Most of them were good, a few perhaps even great. But never have I faced a challenge such as this.’

The interviewer nodded empathetically. Behind her, the Austrian TV crew continued to monitor their equipment with disinterested concentration.

‘Of course, the Holy Scriptures are hardly a new field for this medium,’ Aldobrandini went on discursively. ‘But most of the attempts that have been made, from De Mille to Mel, have taken as their subject the life and death of Christ, since that represents a human drama with which audiences can easily identify. Others have treated episodes from the Old Testament, which are also relatively straightforward to adapt for the screen since they portray aspects of the great human epic of the Jewish people.’