by Wes Anderson
Jopling takes a drink from his flask. He unclips his skis. He walks slowly past Zero’s frozen legs and approaches the precipice.
M. Gustave is clutching onto a knob of jagged ice while his feet dangle above a rocky chasm a thousand feet deep. He stares up at Jopling, frightened but furious. He says quietly:
M. GUSTAVE
You sick, pathetic creep. I hate you. (Shouting.) Run, Zero! Save yourself, I suppose!
Zero’s feet are frozen in place. A distant wolf howls. Pause.
Jopling lifts his foot and stomps his boot down with all his might. The ice crackles and fissures. M. Gustave sighs miserably. He swallows. Jopling stomps again. The ice around M. Gustave begins to crumble. As Jopling continues to stomp, over and over, M. Gustave sadly recites:
M. GUSTAVE
‘“If this do be me end: farewell!” cried the wounded piper-boy, whilst the muskets cracked and the yeomen roared, “Hurrah!” and the ramparts fell. “Methinks me breathes me last, me fears!” said he –’
There is a powerful thump, and Jopling flies headfirst, screaming, off the cliff over M. Gustave’s head. Zero, in the midst of a diving shove, lands on his face and nearly goes over the edge himself. He is covered with snow. M. Gustave shouts, ecstatic:
M. GUSTAVE
Holy shit! You got him!
Far, far below: Jopling’s arms and legs flail as he disappears down into the deepest reaches of the chasm. M. Gustave says proudly in elation:
Well done, Zero!
M. Gustave looks greatly relieved as he continues to hang precariously and his fingers stiffen toward frost bite. Zero gasps for an instant, then thrusts his arms down, stretching, to seize M. Gustave by the wrists.
Cut to:
A binocular shot of Zero dragging M. Gustave back up onto solid ground. They dust the snow off their bodies and catch their breath.
Henckels’ voice shouts over a megaphone:
HENCKELS
(out of shot)
Halt!
M. Gustave and Zero look across the hillside to the next slope. A hundred advancing troops hurry toward them, descending swiftly. The tiny figure of Henckels at the head of the squadron continues forcefully:
Gustave H.! You’re a fugitive from justice! Do not attempt to flee! Surrender lawfully, and I personally vouchsafe your fair treatment! Repeat: do not attempt to flee!
M. Gustave turns to Zero. Zero says, unsure:
ZERO
What do you think?
M. GUSTAVE
(weary)
I don’t know. I’d rather jump off this cliff right now than go back to fucking prison.
M. Gustave looks lost and tired. Zero stares at him. He nods. He says calmly:
ZERO
I say we steal that sick maniac’s motorcycle, go fetch Agatha, take back ‘Boy with Apple’, and head for the Maltese Riviera, once and for all.
M. Gustave’s face lightens. He is moved and deeply impressed.
M. GUSTAVE
Very good! You’re so extraordinary, Zero. Thank you. (Gravely.) A moment of silence in memoriam of a devoted servant killed violently during the conduct of his duties.
M. Gustave and Zero stare solemnly into space for about five seconds. Bloodhounds bark in the far distance. Zero says quietly:
ZERO
Goodbye, Serge.
M. Gustave nods suddenly. He and Zero break into a sprint, race over to the motorcycle, and jump on. Zero kick-starts the engine, and M. Gustave, on the rear fender, hangs on tightly as they rumble away down the icy road.
Cut to:
Henckels watching from the distance. He lowers his binoculars. He looks worried.
MR. MOUSTAFA
(voice-over)
The war began at midnight.
Cut to:
M. Gustave and Zero winding along the highway. Zero yells back over his shoulder:
ZERO
What’s it like, by the way? The Maltese Riviera!
M. GUSTAVE
(pause)
Charming, really! The weather’s exquisite. The local cuisine is simple but excellent! The people are warm, kind, honest! Rather dusky-complexioned. You’ll fit right in, actually!
Zero nods, pleased.
Title:
24 HOURS LATER
Montage:
Various white-gloved hands in action: one rings a bell on the concierge desk with a quick tap. Another slips an envelope into a message box. Another picks up a room key off a hook. Another forcefully shakes a cocktail-shaker full of ice.
MR. MOUSTAFA
(voice-over)
Pffeifelstad fell by lunch under heavy shelling, and the Zig-Zags surged across the long, western border. The Lutz Blitz would last all winter.
Insert:
A Martini glass. The drink is poured neatly – then stirred with a ‘Z-Z’ swizzle-stick.
MR. MOUSTAFA
(voice-over)
High Command advanced to Nebelsbad.
INT. LOBBY. DAY
The hotel is busier than ever, and every man in the room is in uniform. ‘Z-Z’ symbols are plastered across every conceivable surface.
Agatha comes in the front doors carrying a tall stack of pink cardboard pastry-boxes. A soldier seated at a small desk blocking the entrance looks up from his ledger book. He frowns. Agatha explains:
AGATHA
Compliments of Herr Mendl. For the Executive Staff.
Agatha takes a smaller box off the top of the stack and sets it down in front of the soldier. The soldier hesitates. He opens the box and sees inside: one Courtesan au chocolat. He looks back up to Agatha, hopeful. She nods. He signals for her to proceed.
An officer with a crew-cut mans the concierge desk. A badge on his chest reads: ‘Military Concierge’. He is M. Chuck. Mr. Mosher stands beside him taking notes while he dictates orders:
M. CHUCK
General Stieglitz requests a garden-view sitting room with an extra roll-away. Let’s put him in the Duke Leopold Suite. Secretary Woroniecki’s office cabled. He’s checking-in a day early (rooms 401‒2‒3). Tell Tactical Logistics we’re moving them to a standard-double on the third floor.
MR. MOSHER
(skeptical)
They’ll need more space than that.
Mr. Mosher points to a group of four soldiers carrying a ping-pong table through the lobby. Agatha waits calmly while they pass. She pauses, looks left and right, then ducks through a curtain below a sign that reads: STAFF ONLY. She dashes up a staircase.
Cut to:
The storage pantry adjacent to the vault. Agatha comes in and sets aside her boxes. She immediately stands on a chair and runs her hand along the top of a picture rail near the ceiling. She finds a brass key. She unlocks the outer door of the vault and slides it open – revealing the inner one (which has a combination lock).
Agatha reaches into her pocket and withdraws Zero’s hand written square of tissue-paper and a small magnifying glass. She squints and studies the tiny document. She quickly spins the dial and opens the door.
Agatha whips the fur stole off the radiator.
She pulls out the wrapped painting.
She tucks the package under her arm, exits the vault, and relocks the doors.
INT. VAN. DAY
The entrance to the hotel. ‘Z-Z’ banners hang from every awning. A dozen Zubrowkian flags wave and rustle in a row. Crests, heralds, and insignias are displayed in vitrines, doors, and windows. A chanting platoon marches up the promenade, and a soldier in a pilot’s cap sits smoking a cigarette on top of a parked tank next to the funicular.
M. Gustave and Zero wait, tense, in a parked delivery truck with ‘Mendl’s’ painted in delicate, pink cursive across the side. The engine idles. Zero is at the wheel. He and M. Gustave both wear white caps and aprons. M. Gustave says, deeply disgusted, as he stares at the new ornamentation:
M. GUSTAVE
The beginning of the end of the end of the beginning – has begun. A sad finale played, off-key, on a broken d
own saloon piano in the outskirts of a forgotten ghost town. I’d rather not bear witness to such blasphemy.
ZERO
Me, neither.
M. GUSTAVE
(elegiac)
The Grand Budapest has become a troops’ barracks. I shall never cross its threshold again in my lifetime.
ZERO
Me, neither.
M. GUSTAVE
(on a roll)
Never again shall –
ZERO
(alarmed)
Actually, I think we might be going in right now, after all.
Zero points to a long, silver limousine (last seen parked in front of the Desgoffe und Taxis mansion in Lutz) as it pulls up the drive and stops between the Mendl’s van and the entrance to the hotel. A liveried chauffeur jumps out and opens one of the back doors.
Dmitri emerges.
M. Gustave and Zero crouch down low in their seats. M. Gustave whispers with contempt:
M. GUSTAVE
Dmitri.
ZERO
(whispering, worried)
Agatha.
M. Gustave and Zero watch as: Marguerite, Laetizia, and Carolina exit from the other side of the car, and an eager team of bellboys springs into action collecting their numerous bags and suitcases out of the trunk and off the roof-rack of the vehicle.
Cut to:
Agatha poking her head back into the lobby from behind the curtain. She starts toward the front door but pauses as she sees:
Dmitri and his sisters. They enter and are immediately greeted by M. Chuck. A large assembly of maids and footman stand in a row at attention to receive these distinguished guests.
M. CHUCK
Good evening, Mr. Desgoffe und Taxis. I’m M. Chuck. We’ve booked you and your sisters in the King Ferdinand Suite.
Dmitri shakes hands coolly. As M. Chuck introduces himself to Marguerite, Laetizia, and Carolina, Dmitri spots Agatha. He stares at her, curious. She looks back at him, uneasy. He focuses on the package under her arm. She turns away and walks quickly deeper into the lobby. Dmitri frowns.
M. CHUCK
General von Shrecker personally asked me to make sure –
DMITRI
(interrupting)
Excuse me.
Dmitri bolts into the room.
Agatha’s eyes dart, searching for an escape route, as she zooms among the tables, couches, tea trays, officers, waiters, and bellboys.
At the concierge desk: Henckels looks up from signing the guest book. He watches Agatha pass. He watches Dmitri grimly pursuing her. He looks intrigued.
Agatha bee-lines into the elevator. The elevator operator looks to her and waits. She hesitates. She names the top floor:
AGATHA
Six.
Just as the elevator operator starts to shut the gate – a voice commands him:
DMITRI
(out of shot)
Hold it.
The elevator operator pauses. Dmitri enters and stands next to Agatha. He stares ahead into space and repeats:
Six.
The elevator operator slams the door.
Henckels watches from across the lobby. He says to Anatole:
HENCKELS
Get M. Chuck.
Anatole nods and dashes away.
At the front door: M. Gustave and Zero stride into the building holding two tall stacks of pink, cardboard pastry-boxes. They stop. M. Gustave says warmly:
M. GUSTAVE
Compliments of Herr Mendl.
The soldier at the desk blocking the entrance looks up. He is halfway through his Courtesan au chocolat. He has butter-cream on his moustache.
Cut to:
Henckels on his way up the steps followed by M. Chuck. They stop at the next floor, look up and down the corridor, then continue climbing.
Cut to:
Mr. Mosher staring, curious; Herr Becker watching, surprised; and Anatole gaping, mouth open, at: M. Gustave and Zero crossing speedily through the center of the lobby with their stacked boxes, looking around in every direction as they go. They arrive at the closed elevator. A lobby boy stands next to it. He has curly hair and looks to be about sixteen. He is Otto.
M. GUSTAVE
Have you seen a pastry girl with a package under her arm in the last minute and a half?
OTTO
Yep! She just got on the elevator with Mr. Desgoffe und Taxis.
M. GUSTAVE
(irritated)
Thank you.
M. Gustave and Zero look up at the wall. Something is gnawing at them both.
Insert:
The needle above the elevator entrance. It climbs past ‘Four’ toward ‘Five’.
M. Gustave and Zero start to dash away – but Zero stops short and turns back. He says quickly to Otto:
ZERO
I’m sorry. Who are you?
OTTO
(hesitates)
Otto, sir. The new lobby boy.
ZERO
(sharply)
Well, you haven’t been trained properly, Otto. A lobby boy never provides information of that kind. You’re a stone wall. Understood?
OTTO
(anxious)
Yes, sir.
M. Gustave and Zero exchange a quick look: well-handled. They run.
INT. ELEVATOR. DAY
As the lift ascends:
Dmitri casts a sideways look to Agatha. She stares ahead and avoids his eyes. He looks away.
Agatha casts a sideways look to Dmitri. He snaps his head suddenly to look at her. She turns away again immediately, stricken.
Dmitri reaches out toward Agatha. She retreats further into the corner. He touches the package under her arm with his long fingers and peels back the edge of the wrapping-paper – revealing a white hand holding a golden apple. He says quietly:
DMITRI
Pretty picture.
Agatha does not respond. They come to a stop, and the elevator operator opens the gate.
ELEVATOR OPERATOR
Sixth floor.
Neither Agatha nor Dmitri move. Silence. The elevator operator turns around slightly to look at them.
Agatha exits. The elevator operator starts to close the door, but Dmitri holds up a finger. He follows Agatha. The gate closes behind him.
Agatha walks swiftly but calmly down the long corridor. She looks back. Dmitri walks behind her, equally swiftly and significantly more calmly, thirty feet back. Agatha turns a corner.
Dmitri cracks his knuckles as he continues. He clears his throat. He turns the corner now, himself, and sees:
Agatha running as fast as she can, already sixty feet ahead, nearly at the end of the corridor. She looks back again as she disappears around the next corner.
Dmitri breaks into a full sprint. In five seconds, he reaches the end of the hallway. He stops and looks down the next corridor.
It is empty. Pause.
At the far end: a pair of doors labeled SERVICE ELEVATOR slide open. M. Gustave and Zero stand inside it with their stacked boxes. Dmitri’s eyes widen. He shouts:
DMITRI
Where’s ‘Boy with Apple’?
M. GUSTAVE
(pause)
None of your goddamn business!
DMITRI
(hesitates)
I’m going to blast your candy-ass once and for all right now!
Dmitri instantly leans down, lifts up his trouser leg, and draws a small-calibre handgun from a strap under his sock. He fires.
M. Gustave and Zero throw their boxes in every direction and duck to the sides of the elevator. Dmitri fires again. Bullets ricochet.
A door opens halfway down the corridor. An officer wearing his uniform tunic but no trousers looks out at Dmitri, alerted, with a Luger pistol in his hand.
OFFICER
Drop your weapon!
Dmitri fires three more times into the service elevator. The officer fires back at Dmitri. Dmitri ducks behind a room-service cart and quickly reloads. More doors open up and down the corridor,
and more armed officers in various states of dress/undress look out.
Dmitri pops up again and resumes his barrage. All the officers open fire at once, shooting, apparently at random, in both directions. Henckels appears suddenly at the top of the stairs with his own firearm drawn. M. Chuck hurries behind him. Henckels ducks down low and screams:
HENCKELS
Cease fire! Cease fire! Stop it!
The gunfire pauses. Everyone remains poised for the next volley. Henckels hollers:
Who’s shooting who?
DMITRI
(behind his barricade)
That’s Gustave H.! The escaped murderer and art thief! I’ve got him cornered!
M. Gustave and Zero remain tucked against the walls on the floor of the service elevator. M. Gustave yells, enraged:
M. GUSTAVE
That’s Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis! He’s responsible for the killings of Deputy Kovacs, Serge X. and his club-footed sister, plus his own mother!
HENCKELS
(hesitates)
Nobody move! Everybody’s under arrest!
There is a loud creak, then a crashing bang. M. Chuck squints at an open window in a small alcove across from him.
M. CHUCK
Who’s out the window?
Zero looks to M. Gustave. He says, under his breath:
ZERO
Agatha!
Zero sprints out of the service elevator and races up the corridor. Dmitri starts shooting again. The entire group opens fire once more. Zero runs, crouched, with his hands over his head, and ducks into the alcove. His head thrusts out the window. He looks down.
