As was shown at one time in M’s country of birth, when Beelzebub, the Prince of Darkness, cried her name, its full utterance would effect the granting of wishes in exchange for human souls. Comedy. Bedazzled.

The huge red velvet curtains draped back in this Regent cinema, and as the lights dimmed I saw a city in blue twilight. Night lights, inky blues, purples, cream ripples of white within the palest hue; below it all a sooty construction barely recognizable.