The Death of Stalin Page #21

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KHRUSHCHEV:

(just about keeping up

with Molotov’s logic)

Yes, Beria’s the murderer here...

KAGANOVICH:

Those who were killed must not die

in vain...

MOLOTOV:

This is how the Soviet Union was

built. Not with Bishops. Today,

Beria gets an eight-foot crucifix

up his arse!

The dog's still yapping.

KAGANOVICH:

I've had nightmares that make more

sense than this.

MOLOTOV:

The people who died are martyrs.

You have to do it in...

The dog has stopped barking. Molotov waves the toy again and

it jumps and barks.

KAGANOVICH:

Please. Can this f***ing DOG be a

martyr?

MOLOTOV:

You have to do it in one go. Bang!

Like in '36. Won't be easy though.

KHRUSHCHEV:

Zhukhov’s already got the army

sharpening their bayonets...

KAGANOVICH:

And it’s got to be today. Only time

the army’s in the capital.

MOLOTOV:

Excellent. I’m in!

KHRUSHCHEV:

Good, good. We have a majority!

MOLOTOV:

Yes!

KAGANOVICH:

You two, me, Bulganin...

20 May 2016 Draft 10 113.

MOLOTOV:

(cuts in)

You need Malenkov and Mikoyan too.

KHRUSHCHEV:

But... why?

MOLOTOV:

It's what Stalin would have wanted.

The Committee, as one! Act fast

Comrade. Act fast or be dead.

(to dog)

YES. Uncle Nicky’s going to be dead

if he doesn’t get a move on, isn’t

he? Oh yes he is. Yes he is...

CUT TO:

154 INT. MAUSOLEUM - DAY 154

The committee, dignitaries, generals, Svetlana, Mezhnikov and

Kobulov wait in formal dress. The guarded coffin is nearby.

Khrushchev watches uneasily as Malenkov jokes with Beria.

Svetlana comes close.

SVETLANA:

You promised to protect me and my

family...

KHRUSHCHEV:

Of course. Always, my dearest most

precious...

SVETLANA:

Well you didn’t.

She slips him the piece of paper Beria gave her, leaves.

Beria and Zhukhov appear, surprising Khrushchev.

BERIA:

So. Comrade Zhukhov and I have been

conferring...

Khrushchev looks appalled. Has he been betrayed?

ZHUKHOV:

All chums again now, eh? Onward!

BERIA:

He's come up with a plan for

Vasily's speech.

ZHUKHOV:

It will go ahead but it “may”

coincide with the fly-past.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 114.

KHRUSHCHEV:

(flooded with relief)

Hah! Excellent! That’s an excellent

idea! Zhukhov! The genius!

ZHUKHOV:

Let's give the old maniac the sendoff

he deserves.

A general sense of bonhomie. Beria puts his hand on

Khrushchev - it's a reconciliation. He then pats Khrushchev’s

trousers... Bang, it’s the tomato game again.

Zhukhov finds it funny.

ZHUKHOV (CONT’D)

It’s what he would have wanted.

Kobulov gestures to Beria who goes over to him, leaving

Malenkov with Khrushchev.

KHRUSHCHEV:

Georgy...

A 21-gun salute begins outside – the signal for the funeral.

KHRUSHCHEV (CONT’D)

We have to act today.

MALENKOV:

Let’s bury the old man first.

Khrushchev is about to reply but is interrupted by Mezhnikov.

MEZHNIKOV:

Comrades! Please take your places

for the cortege.

Khrushchev and his allies take their places around the

coffin. Beria and Malenkov are at the front, next to

Khrushchev. Zhukhov is directly behind him.

ZHUKHOV:

3..2..

Malenkov joins in, as before, expecting Zhukhov to allow him

to command the moment.

ZHUKHOV/MALENKOV

..1...

ZHUKHOV:

Lift!

MALENKOV:

Yes, lift, everyone.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 115.

Everyone lifts and tries to get comfortable. Some have a

shoulder under it, others just a hand. They start walking the

coffin forward towards the open door as a cannon fires every

few seconds.

KHRUSHCHEV:

(to Malenkov)

Georgy! Georgy!

155 EXT. RED SQUARE - EMERGING FROM THE MAUSOLEUM - DAY 155

(CONTINUOUS)

They shuffle out into a solemn Red Square, packed with

mourners. Zhukhov still pressing Khrushchev.

ZHUKHOV:

Is Malenkov on board?

KHRUSHCHEV:

Georgy’s in. One hundred per cent.

ZHUKHOV:

All or nothing now, Nicky, eh?

They are now in full view of the crowd. The pall-bearers

shift the coffin on into the mausoleum, helped by some

SOLDIERS. Zhukhov takes a step back and salutes.

We see an extreme long shot of Zhukhov saluting. His eyes

flick upwards. He knows he's being watched.

A colonel with bushy eyebrows - BREZHNEV, on a Red Square

rooftop, puts down his binoculars.

Khrushchev nods at Bulganin and Kaganovich: it's happening.

CUT TO:

156 EXT. MAUSOLEUM - BALCONY - DAY 156

The balcony on top of Lenin's mausoleum. The committee

members and dignitaries are stood in a line.

MOLOTOV:

(struggling, in tears)

Stalin's love of ...love of the

nation... The people's pain... The

pain of the people... Oh...

We pan along legs. Chalk marks - initials of who's to stand

where. A technician crouches out of view. Khrushchev's foot

scratches an itch on his calf.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 116.

157 INT. CORRIDOR FROM MAUSOLEUM TO KREMLIN - DAY 157

Brezhnev and MOSKALENKO walk with briefcases towards some

NKVD MEN by a set of double doors. An NKVD lieutenant,

Pervak salutes them. They show papers, hand over pistols, go

inside.

158 EXT. MAUSOLEUM - BALCONY - DAY 158

Malenkov’s delivery is incredibly dull.

MALENKOV:

Yet we will draw strength from the

continuity of the revolution as it

goes on an on, generation after

generation... yet today we pause in

grief, and sorrow. But is not a

pause in itself part of the

revolution...?

Beria looks bored. Others sway to keep warm.

159 INT. KREMLIN - TOILETS - DAY 159

Pictures of Stalin and Lenin. Brezhnev closes the door. Both

men open up their briefcases to reveal wires, a small red

light bulb, electrical equipment.

160 EXT. MAUSOLEUM - BALCONY 160

Vasily is now at the microphone. He shouts into it.

VASILY:

My father was a great social

scientist! But we, the people of

the Soviet Union, are not

laboratory animals! No! We are

laboratory technicians!

The very noisy fly-over begins. He tries to shout over it.

VASILY (CONT’D)

My father! Your father! Our father!

161 INT. KREMLIN - TOILETS - DAY 161

Moskalenko fixes the lightbulb to a window frame. Brezhnev

trails a wire along the edge of the skirting board towards a

set of double-doors into a larger meeting room, with chairs

around a long oak table.

20 May 2016 Draft 10 117.

162 EXT. MAUSOLEUM - BALCONY - DAY 162

Beria speaking, Malenkov and Khrushchev on either side.

BERIA:

We must embrace our terrible loss

with the strength and love for our

nation that Stalin himself..

163 INT./EXT. KREMLIN - MEETING ROOM/COURTYARD - DAY 163

Moskalenko hammers a wedge into the window frame, checks it’s

jammed shut, as NKVD GUARDS listen to Beria's speech in a

courtyard outside, their backs to the window.

Brezhnev fastens a button underneath the table, checks a wire

leading down the table leg and under the carpet. He puts a

place card - “Comrade General Secretary Malenkov" at the head

of the table, where the button is.

164 EXT. MAUSOLEUM - BALCONY - DAY 164

Beria continues his speech.

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