With this week’s UK release of ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’, one of cinema’s most appealing anti-heroes – Gordon Gekko – is back. At a screening in Cannes earlier this year, Michael Douglas described his shock at the public’s response to his portrayal of Gekko in Oliver Stone’s original film. “We just never anticipated that all these people in business school would be ranting and raving that this was the person that they wanted to be. People are attracted to villains.”

In fact, bankers seem to hold a special - albeit ambiguous - appeal for filmmakers and cinema audiences. When it comes to so-called masters of the universe, we can't decide whether we most want to beat them, or be them.