The Grand Budapest Hotel Page #15

M. Gustave says, gasping:

M. GUSTAVE

It’s you! Thank you! Thank you, yousweet, kind man!

The giant nods sadly.

CUT TO:

69.

The bottom of the rope ladder which ends half-way downthe tower. M. Gustave, Pinky, G.nther, Wolf, and Ludwigstep onto a narrow ledge and make their way, sidestepping

cautiously, around the circumference of thebuilding. They arrive at a small sloped roof and open atrap-door.

INT. DORMITORY. NIGHT

M. Gustave, Pinky, G.nther, Wolf, and Ludwig all crouchon a beam in the upper eaves of a vaulted hall. In thedark below, there are twenty narrow cots in two rows.

Next to each cot, there is a guard’s uniform on a coat-

hanger, a billy-club on a peg, and a Luger pistol on thenight stand. Asleep in each cot, there is a lightlysnoring goon.

Ludwig gets a firm grip on a tarnished copper pipe. Heturns to the others and nods. He swings out and makeshis way, hand-over-hand, from pipe-to-pipe across theceiling. The others follow.

INT. CELLAR. NIGHT

A dirty chute sticks down from the ceiling above a widegarbage-bin filled with empty tins and rottingvegetables. M. Gustave, Pinky, G.nther, Wolf, and Ludwigslide down into view, one-by-one, drop out into thetrash-pile, and hurry on their tip-toes into a dimcorridor.

CUT TO:

The candle-lit dungeon. M. Gustave, Pinky, G.nther,

Wolf, and Ludwig all listen attentively, looking up atthe ceiling. There is a loud but muffled sneeze above,

then feet creaking away. Ludwig nods.

Pinky pulls away an oil-skin tarp to reveal the cementpot-hole which has now been chiselled all the waythrough the thick sub-floor clear into the room below --

where they see:

Three startled guards staring up at them from a cardtable in a dank, brick basement. They each hold a handof cards. One is in the middle of placing a bet into arich pot. A gas-lantern flickers on a hook. The escapeesall cry-out at once:

LUDWIG:

Woah!

PINKY:

Yow!

70.

WOLF:

Jeez!

M. GUSTAVE

Look out!

G.nther whips the toothbrush-knife out of his sock andjumps down into the hole. The table shatters and cardsand coins fly in every direction. There is a frenzy ofpunching, scrapping, and grunting. The others convergeexcitedly around the hole like the audience at a cockfight.

G.nther kicks one guard in the teeth, slashesanother across the neck, and socks the third, blastingthe lantern into bits in the process.

The room goes black.

M. Gustave, Pinky, and Wolf cheer at a low decibel,

whispering advice and encouragement simultaneously downinto the darkness while Ludwig quickly searches for amatch. He lights it and holds it over the hole.

Two of the guards are now sprawled-out on their backs ina spreading pool of blood. G.nther and the remainingguard twist and clutch on the floor, grappling inviolent head-locks, while they simultaneously stab eachother repeatedly with the throat-slitter and a thickhunting-knife. They both fall silent and stop moving.

Silence. M. Gustave says quietly:

M. GUSTAVE

I suppose you’d call that a draw.

Ludwig sighs. He delivers a brief eulogy:

LUDWIG:

Anyway, he went out with a bloody knifein his fist jammed into the gut of adyin’ prison guard. I think that’s how hewould’ve wanted it, don’t you?

M. Gustave, Pinky, and Wolf nod and solemnly concur,

muttering. They climb down into the hole.

EXT. STREET. NIGHT

Zero watches as the man-hole cover flips open onto thestreet. M. Gustave pokes his head up and whisperssimply:

M. GUSTAVE

Good evening.

Zero rushes to assist M. Gustave out of the storm-drain.

Pinky, Wolf, and Ludwig surface on high-alert, looking

71.

around in every direction. (Pinky carries a wad of thecrumbled-up gambling-money in his little hand.)

M. GUSTAVE

Let me introduce you. Pinky, Wolf, andLudwig: this is the divine Zero.

(soberly to Zero)

G.nther was slain in the catacombs.

M. Gustave crosses himself quickly. He begins a wistfulspeech:

M. GUSTAVE

Well, boys, who knows when we’ll all meetagain; but if, one day -LUDWIG

No time to gab. Take care of yourself,

Mr. Gustave. Good luck, kid.

Pinky, Wolf, and Ludwig sprint away into the woods. M.

Gustave watches them go, bittersweet. He grabs Zero bythe shoulder and says, suddenly urgent:

M. GUSTAVE

Which way to the safe house?

ZERO:

(unfortunately)

I couldn’t find one.

M. GUSTAVE

(in disbelief)

No safe house? Really? We’re completelyon our own out here?

ZERO:

(worried)

I’m afraid so. I asked around, but Ididn’t want to take any chances. Ithought -

Zero trails off. He looks apologetic. M. Gustave sighs,

resigned. He says calmly:

M. GUSTAVE

I understand. Too risky. We’ll just haveto wing it, I suppose. Let’s put on ourdisguises.

Zero hesitates. He looks down at his vagabond costume,

then at M. Gustave’s. He says, confused:

ZERO:

We’re wearing them.

72.

M. GUSTAVE

(frustrated)

No, we’re not. We said false whiskers and

fake noses and so on. You didn’t bringany?

ZERO:

(referring to moustache)

I thought you were growing one. It

wouldn’t look realistic, would it? Ithought -

Zero trails off again. He deflates, distressed. M.

Gustave remains calm.

M. GUSTAVE

When done properly, they’re perfectlyconvincing -- but I take your point. Sobe it. Give me a few squirts of L’air de

Panache, please, will you?

Zero smacks his hand to his forehead and looks

mortified. M. Gustave says bluntly:

M. GUSTAVE

Can I not get a squirt, even?

ZERO:

(miserably)

I forgot the L’air de Panache.

M. GUSTAVE

(at peak frustration)

Honestly -- you forgot the L’air de

Panache? I don’t believe it. How could

you? I’ve been in jail, Zero! Do youunderstand how humiliating this is? Ismell.

M. Gustave lifts up his arms. Zero sniffs him. Hegrimaces. M. Gustave’s eyes narrow. He begins to seethe.

M. GUSTAVE

Well, that’s just marvelous, isn’t it? Isuppose this is to be expected back in --

where do you come from, again?

ZERO:

(evenly)

Aq Salim al-Jabat.

M. GUSTAVE

(escalating)

Precisely. I suppose this is to beexpected back in Aq Salim al-Jabat whereone’s prized possessions are a stack of

(more)

73.

M. GUSTAVE (cont'd)

filthy carpets and a starving goat, andone sleeps behind a tent-flap andsurvives on wild dates and scarabs -- but

it’s not how I trained you. What on God’searth possessed you to leave the homelandwhere you very obviously belong andtravel unspeakable distances to become apenniless immigrant in a refined, highly-

cultivated society that, quite frankly,

could’ve gotten along very well withoutyou?

ZERO:

(shrugs)

The war.

M. GUSTAVE

(pause)

Say again?

Zero speaks softly and struggles deliberately to holdback his emotions as he says, staring at the ground:

ZERO:

Well, you see, my father was murdered,

and the rest of my family were executedby firing squad. Our village was burnedto the ground. Those who managed tosurvive were forced to flee. I left --

because of the war.

M. GUSTAVE

(back-peddling)

Ah, I see. So you’re, actually, reallymore of a refugee, in that sense.

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