He puffed on his cigar.

‘But neither the teachings and sufferings of Jesus, nor the trials and tribulations of the Jews, constitute in and of themselves the essence of the Biblical message. Like all great religions, Christianity has both a human and a superhuman — one might even say inhuman — face. Its mysteries are revealed in the natural world around us, but their fons et origo is supernatural and by definition passeth all understanding.’

‘So how can such mysteries be transferred to the cinema screen?’ asked the interviewer.

Luciano Aldobrandini did not like being interrupted when he was in full flight. He held up his hand like a traffic policeman.

‘All in due course. As I was saying, previous cinematic treatments of the Bible have focused on its human aspects. The two great bookends of scripture, its alpha and omega, are of course Genesis and Revelations.’

He laughed reminiscently.

‘As one of Dino’s friends, I was involved in a minor way with John Huston’s attempt to tackle the first of these back in the 1960s, and in my sentimental moments regret that I cannot be kinder about the result. But the second has never even been attempted, no doubt because parsing such a narrative for the lens has always appeared impossible.’

A young man appeared in the background, just behind the floodlights, waving frantically. The interviewer signalled the cameraman to pause the tape.

‘Well?’ demanded Aldobrandini curtly.

‘Marcello’s on the phone. He says it’s urgent.’

‘Tell him to wait.’

The young man disappeared and the interview recommenced.

‘Saint John of Patmos has been variously described as an inspired visionary, a deranged drug addict and a delusional psychotic,’ Aldobrandini continued smoothly. ‘The work for which he is famous was only very narrowly accepted for inclusion in the biblical canon and has been the subject of controversy ever since.