The Death of Stalin Page #2

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Everyone - musicians, audience - look at him. The nervous man

is sweating, terrified. Security guards block the doors. The

NKVD man remains inside.

16 INT. STALIN'S DACHA - DINING ROOM - NIGHT 16

A sparsely furnished dining room after a long night of

drinking and eating. Stalin is just sitting down at one end,

filling his pipe with crumbled cigarette tobacco. Malenkov

tops up everyone's glass.

KHRUSHCHEV:

You know, you put someone’s little

finger in a glass of water when

they’re asleep? They wet

themselves.

STALIN:

What next? Place a bar of chocolate

in their pocket, they’ll sh*t their

pants?

KHRUSHCHEV:

It’s biology, chief. We did it to

Polnikov in Stalingrad.

Beria joins them, picking up a tomato from the table.

BERIA:

Potato doing his war stories again?

(looking at his watch,

then to Molotov)

WELL before midnight. Pay up.

Molotov gets out some cash. They've clearly had a bet.

MOLOTOV:

You're bankrupting me, Nikita. This

is a capitalist conspiracy.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 6.

MALENKOV:

What became of that old dog

Polnikov?

STALIN:

You want to know where f***ing

Polnikov is? You want to GO there?

Malenkov knows he shouldn't have asked.

Beria puts his arm round Khrushchev.

BERIA:

I love that grenade story. Oh, is

there one in your pocket?

Khrushchev pulls a squashed tomato from his pocket. Beria and

the others laugh. Stalin too.

KHRUSHCHEV:

(laughs, camping it up)

I die for the Motherland!

MUSIC:
dramatic orchestral.

Under the music, everything slows down.

In slow motion, we see Khrushchev and Beria laughing at each

other, like two braying animals. Khrushchev tries to wipe his

hand on Beria's jacket, generating more laughter. We can just

hear, at a quarter of the speed, Beria and Khrushchev calling

each other 'Potato' and 'Tomato' but it sounds like grunts.

We see under Beria, the caption "Lavrenti BERIA. Head of

Security Forces". And under Khrushchev, his caption: "Nikita

KHRUSHCHEV, in charge of Agricultural Reform".

MUSIC OUT – Back to normal speed.

Malenkov takes another tomato from the table, desperate to be

in on the joke.

MALENKOV:

Take THIS, you bastards!

He mimes pulling a grenade pin from it with his teeth. Now

doesn’t know where to take the joke. Puts the tomato down.

MALENKOV (CONT’D)

Anyway...better get back to...

STALIN:

Time for a cowboy movie. Who’s in

my posse?

Everyone tries to look excited.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 7.

KHRUSHCHEV:

Oh good, it's Stagecoach again.

MOLOTOV:

Yee-hah!

17 INT. CONCERT HALL - AUDITORIUM - NIGHT 17

The orchestra are on stage. Half the audience remain.

Security guards are at each door. Andreyev at the front of

the stage. Maria is nearby at the piano.

SERGEI:

Half the audience have gone. The

acoustic will be very dry.

ANDREYEV:

Pull people in off the streets! Fat

ones, so we won’t need so many!

MUSICIAN 1, the orchestra’s joker, asserts himself.

MUSICIAN 1

I could call my wife? She’d...

(indicates “fat”)

...”dampen the acoustic”.

Laughter. Andreyev turns to the audience, trying to smile.

ANDREYEV:

Comrades!

A TRUMPETER plays a quick fanfare, prompting laughter.

ANDREYEV (CONT’D)

Comrades, shut up! I have great

news! Wonderful news.

MUSICIAN 1

(to Andreyev)

Are you pregnant?

The trumpeter parps. More laughter.

ANDREYEV:

Comrade Stalin...

(shoots a look)

...loved tonight's concerto and

would like a recording of it right

away which we don't have for some

reason and trust me we will look

into why that happened, but

meanwhile... the concerto we just

played will be played by us

again... Now. Please. We will

record it and applaud it.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 8.

No smiling now. Some of the musicians start clapping, then

the audience, security guards, a very relieved nervous man,

everyone. It's a huge standing ovation, though you can just

make out someone dry-heaving. When it dies we hear Maria...

MARIA:

I'm not going to do it.

MUSICIAN 1

You cow hole b*tch.

CUT TO:

18 EXT. MOSCOW STREETS/INT. CAR - NIGHT 18

The cars from Stalin's dacha fanning out from the main car

and off on different routes across the city.

We see the list from the dacha in the hand of Delov.

We stay with one car as it passes several black militarystyle

trucks and vans. NKVD men in the truck.

CUT TO:

19 EXT. MOSCOW STREETS - NIGHT 19

Black marias pull up. NKVD men and Delov get out and start

fanning out towards the apartment blocks.

20 EXT. APARTMENT BLOCK - NIGHT 20

Pan across windows. Despite terrible noises from below, not

one light goes on. We think we see a slight stir in the dark

at one window.

21 INT. CONCERT HALL - AUDITORIUM/DIRECTOR'S OFFICE - NIGHT 21

Andreyev hurries Maria up the concert hall and into his

office. The conductor follows them in. Through the office

window, we can see the orchestra and audience watching.

ANDREYEV:

You, Joan of Arc, you want to get

killed?

MARIA:

Oh, like my father “got killed”? My

brother? Like THAT?

He sits her down in a chair.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 9.

ANDREYEV:

You want a family reunion in the

mortuary?!

The Conductor is in the background looking unwell.

MARIA:

I won't do it. You can't force me.

ANDREYEV:

(to the conductor)

Should we get another pianist?

CONDUCTOR:

No, that's ridiculous. The sound

would be entirely different. Even

Stalin could...

MARIA:

“Even”.

CONDUCTOR:

(frozen in fear)

No... I meant...

MARIA:

Even STALIN? Is this office bugged?

ANDREYEV:

(trying to help out)

Of course Comrade Stalin will be

able to tell the difference. He's a

great man, with a great ear for

music.

CONDUCTOR:

Two great ears.

ANDREYEV:

The two greatest ears in the Soviet

Union.

Andreyev comes close to Maria, takes her hands, pleading.

ANDREYEV (CONT’D)

Maria Viniaminovna...

MARIA:

(of her fingers)

Don’t crush the little workers.

He lets go.

ANDREYEV:

You have to play.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 10.

CONDUCTOR:

(to the unseen bug)

I didn't mean what I said...

MARIA:

(to Conductor)

So you said it then.

(to Andreyev)

As God is my witness, I won't do

it. The Lord will see me through.

ANDREYEV:

10000 roubles.

MARIA:

20000.

ANDREYEV:

Done.

Andreyev hurries Maria out into the corridor, followed by the

conductor – who faints, banging his head on a sand bucket.

ANDREYEV (CONT’D)

Who put that there? What brainless

f***ing fire safety F***ER put that

there?

22 INT. STALIN'S DACHA - DINING ROOM/OFFICE - NIGHT 22

It's dark. Khrushchev, Beria, Malenkov and Molotov are

watching a John Wayne western.

Beyond them, Stalin stands by his desk, looking at papers.

Molotov has fallen asleep, with Malenkov next to him.

BERIA:

He gets shot off his horse.

(guy gets shot off horse)

Yup. Adios.

KHRUSHCHEV:

(loudly, so Stalin hears)

Horses are sh*t, son! You should

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