The Pianist Page #28

INT. KITCHEN, RUINED VILLA - EVENING

Dark, shadowy.

Szpilman comes down a flight of wooden stairs that had

directly into the kitchen.

Immediately, he begins to search fractically, opening

cupboards, drawers. He finds a can with a label illustrating

pickled cucumbers. Desperately, he searches for something

to open it with.

He discovers a pair of scales with a variety of weights.

He seizes one of the weights when, very close, he hears

the sound of a car coming to a halt, then the car door

slam, a German voice giving commands.

He drops the weight but, holding the tin, he scampers up

the stairs.

INT. BACK STAIRS, RUINED VILLA - EVENING

Szpilman, clutching the unopened tin, makes his way up the

narrow, wooden staircase.

INT. TOP FLOOR, RUINED VILLA - EVENING

Szpilman, panting heavily, reaches the top floor. He sees

a small door, tries it. It opens.

INT. ATTIC AND LOFT, RUINED VILLA - EVENING

Szpilman enters, closing the small door behind him. He

leans back, resting, recovering.

And then he hears from down below a piano playing a

Beethoven piece.

After a few bars, the music stops. Szpilman listens

anxiously. Silence.

He looks around, finding himself in an attic space filled

with junk, a ladder, rotting material, travelling trunks.

Last light of day filtering through a dormer window.

There's a ladder leading up to a trapdoor. Szpilman climbs

the ladder.

He crawls into a small empty space. With enormous effort

he pulls up the ladder and closes the trapdoor.

Exhausted and trying to catch his breath, he gazes at the

unopened tin. He peers through the darkness but sees

nothing.

His eyes begin to droop.

EXT. WARSAW CITY SKYLINE - NIGHT

Artillery fire. Fires glow on the horizon.

INT. LOFT, RUINED VILLA - NIGHT

Szpilman wakes suddenly. He listens. Silence but for the

distant gunfire. He sees the unopened tin of pickles, stares

at it. He opens the trapdoor.

INT. BACK STAIRS, RUINED VILLA - NIGHT

Szpilman, a shadow, a spectre, creeps down the stairs.

INT. KITCHEN, RUINED VILLA - NIGHT

Szpilman has placed the tin and the weight on a shelf and

is engrossed in searching again. He finds a pair of chicken

scissors. Using the weight, he starts to hammer the point

of the scissors into the tin making a perforation round

the rim.

The tin slips off the shelf and rolls across the floor

coming to rest at a pair of highly polished jackboots.

Szpilman stifles a gasp.

On the stairs, in silhouette, gazing down at him, the figure

of a GERMAN CAPTAIN, the thumb of one hand caught in his

belt above his pistol.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

(stern)

Who the hell are you?

Szpilman just stares at him.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Who are you?

No response.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

What the hell are you doing?

SZPILMAN:

(barely audible, in

German)

I was... I was trying to open this

tin.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Where do you live?

No response.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

What's your work?

SZPILMAN:

I am... I was a pianist.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

A pianist.

He studies Szpilman for a moment, then with a nod orders

him to follow. Szpilman picks up the tin and follows.

INT. ROOMS, RUINED VILLA - NIGHT

Szpilman follows the German Captain through a double door,

hanging off its hinges, into a room with a broken table in

the centre, what once was the dining room. And then through

another set of doors. The German Captain's boots echo.

They come into a spacious room. Faint moonlight filters

through the large windows. Fallen masonry and broken glass.

A couple of chairs. And a grand piano in the corner.

The German Captain points at the piano.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Play.

Szpilman hesitates, then limps to the piano, puts down the

tin, and opens the lid. He turns and drags one of the chairs

over and sits.

The German Captain stands and watches.

Szpilman glances surreptitiously at his hands, and then he

plays Chopin.

The German Captain listens, expressionless. The pale

moonlight shows him to be a handsome, elegant man.

Szpilman finishes playing.

Silence.

Somewhere, a cat mews. Distant burst of rifle fire.

The German Captain stares at Szpilman. After a moment:

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Are you hiding here?

Szpilman nods.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Jew?

Long pause. Szpilman just stares at him.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Where are you hiding?

SZPILMAN:

(in German)

In the attic.

THE GERMAN CAPTAIN

Show me.

Szpilman hesitates, takes the tin and then shuffles past

the German Captain towards the door.

INT. ATTIC AND LOFT AREA, RUINED VILLA - NIGHT

Szpilman and the German Captain enter.

The German Captain takes out a flashlight, sees the ladder

in place, leading up to the loft.

Rate this script:3.8 / 17 votes