Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

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 down 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.