The Grand Budapest Hotel Page #17

INT. FIFTH LOBBY. NIGHT

Concierge desk #5. M. Martin picks up the telephone.

M. MARTIN

Robin, Martin. I know. So I heard.

(suddenly intrigued)

Maybe.

(gravely)

Let me make a few calls.

EXT. WHEAT FIELD. NIGHT

M. Gustave and Zero wait hidden behind a hay-stack nextto the telephone booth. M. Gustave re-caps:

M. GUSTAVE

Serge X:
missing. Deputy Kovacs: alsomissing. Madame D: dead. “Boy withApple”: stolen (by us). Dmitri andJopling: ruthless, cold-blooded savages.

Gustave H:
at large. What else?

ZERO:

Zero:
confused.

79.

M. GUSTAVE

(nodding)

Zero:
confused, indeed. The plot“thickens”, as they say. Why, by the way?

Is it a soup metaphor?

ZERO:

I don’t know.

Distant tires squeal.

M. Gustave and Zero sit up quickly and peer-off down theroad. An approaching car accelerates, whining in thedarkness. A pair of head-lights pops into view from thewoods. A large sedan emerges with a roar, zig-zaggingonto the farm road. It slides across the gravel and ripsto a stop in front of them. A sign next to five stars onthe side of the hood reads: Hotel Excelsior Palace.

One of the back doors snaps open, and M. Ivan shoutsfrom inside:

M. IVAN

Get in!

M. Gustave and Zero dash out from behind the hay-stackand sprint to the vehicle.

INT. HOTEL CAR. DAY

The door slams shut, and the chauffeur punches it. Theyspeed back into the hamlet. M. Ivan immediately beginsbriefing M. Gustave and Zero:

M. IVAN

We found the butler. He’s hiding-out inthe remote foot-hills near Gabelmeister’s

Peak. Our contact convinced him to meet

you mid-day tomorrow at the observatoryon the summit. Tell no one. He’ll explaineverything. The train departs in four-anda-

half minutes. Here’s your tickets.

M. Ivan deals-out a pair of train tickets to M. Gustaveand Zero. M. Gustave gives his a quick study, thenmumbles a puzzled objection:

M. GUSTAVE

Third class?

M. IVAN

It was over-booked, but the conductorused to be a sommelier at the old

Versailles. He pulled some strings.

You’ll need these for the dining car.

80.

M. Ivan produces two, pre-tied neck-ties. M. Gustave andZero slip them over their heads and adjust the knots.

The chauffeur hits the brakes, and M. Ivan swings thedoor open again.

M. IVAN

Go!

EXT. TRAIN STATION. NIGHT

M. Gustave and Zero jump out in front of a very smalldepot and slam the door. M. Ivan says out the window:

M. IVAN

One last thing.

M. Ivan leans down and searches for something on thefloor. He sits up and thrusts-out a tiny version of afamiliar bottle. M. Gustave melts as he realizes:

M. GUSTAVE

L’air de Panache!

M. IVAN

(down-playing it)

They only had the half-ounce.

M. Gustave looks impressed and deeply touched. He leansto Zero and whispers:

M. GUSTAVE

We should give him something as asymbolic gesture. How much money you got?

ZERO:

(hesitates)

Forty-two Klubecks and three postage

stamps.

M. GUSTAVE

Give me twenty-five.

Zero’s eyes widen. He c*cks his head, dubious. M.

Gustave nods firmly. Zero reluctantly digs a handful ofcoins and bills out of his pocket and passes it on to M.

Gustave. M. Gustave says to M. Ivan with profoundgratitude:

M. GUSTAVE

Bless you.

M. Gustave attempts to discreetly press the money into

M. Ivan’s palm -- but M. Ivan withdraws. He waves hishands and says by way of gentle refusal:

81.

M. IVAN

Please.

M. Gustave smiles sadly. He bows. The hotel car skids

away.

Silence. M. Gustave sprays himself four times with theperfume atomizer. His posture and bearing immediatelyimprove. He turns to Zero. Pause.

M. Gustave holds out the bottle. Zero looks confused --

then simultaneously flattered and hesitant. He takes thecologne and spritzes himself once lightly. He gives apolite nod and returns the bottle.

A train pulls into the station, and M. Gustave and Zerorace out onto the platform.

CUT TO:

A stack of wooden planks next to the opening in the cellfloor. Ten guards and twenty soldiers stand crowded inthe little room looking down at the hole. Henckel’s headpokes up from the crawl-space below. He wears a look ofgrim determination as he delivers the following:

HENCKELS:

I want roadblocks at every junction forfifty kilometers. I want railblocks at

every train station for a hundredkilometers. I want fifty men and tenbloodhounds ready in five minutes. We’regoing to strip-search every pretzel-haus,

waffel-hut, biergarten -- and especiallyevery grand hotel -- from .ugenzburg toZilchbr.ck. These men are dangerous,

professional criminals. (At least, threeof them are, anyway.)

Henckels hesitates. He squints across the room. Hepoints.

HENCKELS:

Who are you?

The guards and soldiers all turn to look past the bunksbehind them and clear the view to:

Jopling alone in the dim back corner.

HENCKELS:

What are you doing here? Civilianpersonnel aren’t permitted in the cell-

block. This is a military investigation.

82.

Jopling steps fully into view. A shifty guard explainsnervously:

SHIFTY GUARD:

This is Mr. Jopling, sir. His employer’smother was one of the victims of the -

HENCKELS:

Shut up.

Henckels climbs up out of the hole as Jopling approachesand offers his card. Henckel snaps it up, gives it afraction-of-a-second look, then hands it off to anunderling.

HENCKELS:

You work for the family Desgoffe undTaxis?

Pause. Jopling nods. Henckels asks pointedly:

HENCKELS:

Are you aware of the murder of DeputyVilmos Kovacs on the twenty-third ofOctober?

JOPLING:

(carefully)

I’m aware of his disappearance.

HENCKELS:

His body was found stuffed in asarcophagus behind a storage room at theKunstmuseum late last night. He was shortfour fingers. What do you say about that?

Henckels withdraws a type-written document out of hiscoat. He holds it up.

INSERT:

A police report with a photograph of Deputy Kovacs’ bodyin a pharaoh’s casket with his hands crossed on hischest. A section at the bottom of the page is labelledFINGERPRINTS. There are five for the left hand, but onlya thumb for the right.

Jopling studies the document. He shrugs.

HENCKELS:

Escort Mr. Jopling off the premises.

Jopling makes his way toward the cell door accompaniedby several soldiers. He pauses just before he exits. Heleans down and picks up a flattened, pink, cardboard box

83.

off the floor. He scrapes a ridge of icing with hisfinger and licks the tip. He says softly:

JOPLING:

Mendl’s.

Henckels watches Jopling suspiciously as he shrinks awaydown the corridor.

INT. LIBRARY. NIGHT

Dmitri, dressed in black pajamas and a black smokingjacket with a fur collar, listens on the telephone in asmall alcove. He says calmly:

DMITRI:

Talk to his club-footed sister again --

and, this time:
be persuasive.

Dmitri hangs up. He crosses into the library and standsin front of a snooker table. The box containing MadameD’s will sits among billiard balls in the middle of it.

Its contents have been spread-out and scattered into asprawling mess. Marguerite, Laetizia, and Carolina playcards and sip at tiny glasses of port on the other endof the room.

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