Out Of Poland

FADE IN
INT. ROYAL CASTLE, POLAND’S SEAT OF GOVERNMENT - LATE
AFTERNOON - POLISH AMBASSADOR FERDEK WATOWSKI
Stands on the balcony of the castle, looking out across
Warsaw.
The sky is dark. A heavy mist rises above the land.
His face is somber, his eyes sad.
POV - AMBASSADOR: Lights are being turned off one at a time
in buildings scattered across town.
A HANDFUL OF MEN AND WOMEN hurry down the sidewalks, their
heads bowed against the chill.
A SIREN WAILS as an ambulance races past him. The streets are
virtually empty.
A BUS stops for a lone passenger at the street corner.
ANGLE ON THE ROOM - WIDE SHOT - THE AMBASSADOR
Doesn’t turn when he hears THE DOOR BEHIND HIM OPEN.
CAMERA FOLLOWS as the ambassador’s daughter, Patrycja, walks
slowly toward him. She reaches her father and gently touches
his arm. She is grown and a beautiful young lady. Her face is
shadowed with concern.
AMBASSADOR
I fear we are facing the end, my
little Patrycja. The Poland you
have known for your twenty-two
years is no more. You can almost
feel the land we love slipping
through out fingers and falling
from our grasp.
PATRYCJA
No, Father, the war is only just
begun. We are a proud people. We
will fight as long as we have
breath to fight.
THE DISTANT SOUND OF AN EXPLOSION. GUNFIRE. TANKS RUMBLING
BEYOND THE FOG.
2.
AMBASSADOR
The German army is nearly at our
door, and we have no way to stop
them. We have a brave army on
horseback. The Germans have an army
of tanks. We have pitchforks. They
have machine guns. We are like
lambs before the slaughter. We will
indeed fight as long as we have
breath to breathe, but the Germans
have us surrounded and their greedy
hands around our throats.
PATRYCJA
We must not give up, Father.
AMBASSADOR
(forcing a smile)
We have hope, Patrycja. We need
guns.
PATRYCJA
Surely, there is someone to help
us.
AMBASSADOR
No one, Patrycja. We are alone.
PATRYCJA
I will pray for the best, Father.
AMBASSADOR
May God have mercy on us all,
little one. I fear the worst is
upon us.
CUT TO:
EXT. BOX CAR IN THE GDANSK RAILROAD YARD - LATE AFTERNOON -
THREE YOUNG MEN
Cautiously climb out of the box car. They are FERDEK, the
ambassador’s son, TAVIUS and WOLFGANG, all lieutenants in the
Polish army. They are dressed in ragged clothes worn by
peasants. Their cloth caps are pulled low over their eyes.
They glance nervously in both directions, then move out among
the train cars jammed in the yard. All three wear leather
backpacks. A LONG AND MOURNFUL WHISTLE breaks the silence.
CAMERA WIDENS to follow FERDEK, TAVIUS, AND WOLFGANG
3.
As they fall in among the railroad workers changing shifts
their faces are calm but defiant, and they are trying to
blend in, their eyes darting constantly from left to right.
CUT TO:
EXT. GERMAN TROOP TRUCK - LATE AFTERNOON - GERMAN SOLDIERS
Jump down from the back of the truck. Young men. Hard faces.
A GERMAN OFFICER strides up to his lieutenant, who snaps to
attention.
GERMAN OFFICER
We know he is here. We don’t know
why.
LIEUTENANT
We will find him, Sir.
GERMAN OFFICER
Before morning. He must not be
allowed to escape.
LIEUTENANT
What do we do when we find him,
Sir.
GERMAN OFFICER
(smiling)
Shoot him.
THE SOLDIERS clutch their rifles, dressed for battle. They
begin trotting down the street toward the railroad yard. They
move past a cluster of workers surrounding FERDEK, TAVIUS,
AND WOLFGANG, who turn their faces away from the German
squad.
THE GERMAN OFFICER stops suddenly beside the cluster of
workers. He grabs an old man and jerks him into the street.
He holds out one hand with the other resting on the butt of
his Lugar.
GERMAN OFFICER (CONT’D)
Your papers, old man. I’m sure they
are in order.
THE OLD MAN nervously begins rummaging through his coat
pocket and finally pulls out his papers. His hand trembles as
he hands them to the GERMAN OFFICER.
THE GERMAN OFFICER turns to Ferdek, frowns and snaps his
fingers.
4.
GERMAN OFFICER (CONT’D)
Your name?
FERDEK hesitates. He glances quickly at Tavius.
GERMAN OFFICER (CONT’D)
Your name. Now. And your documents.
Or you will be shot as a refugee
without papers.
FERDEK
Look around you. Like the others
you see, I am employed by the
railroad.
GERMAN OFFICER
Then you will have papers. I want
to see your papers. A man without
papers is a man who longer exists.
FERDEK
(defiantly)
Poland is a free land, and I am a
free man. You’re here without an
invitation. I do not answer to you.
GERMAN OFFICER
(quietly and deadly)
You are sadly mistaken, I’m afraid.
Poland is no longer free. No one is
free of German rule. Your papers,
or Poland will hold your grave.
THE GERMAN OFFICER slowly removes his Lugar from its holster.
A shadow falls across his face.
THE WORKERS are suddenly battling among themselves, shoved
forward, then backward, and a young man breaks free and runs
wildly down the street.
THE GERMAN OFFICER hurries into the street, raises his LUGAR
and FIRES A SHOT into the air. He motions to his Lieutenant,
and both follow the soldiers who chase after the fleeing man.
ANGLE ON FERDEK, TAVIUS, AND WOLFGANG
They glance quickly over their shoulder as they hurriedly
disappear around the corner.
Far behind them, they HEAR A SHOT. A moment later, A SECOND
SHOT.
ANGRY VOICES echo down the street.
5.
FERDEK, TAVIUS, AND WOLFGANG are at a dead run down a dark
alley.
CUT TO:
EXT. BAR - NIGHT -FERDEK
Pauses on the street corner and glances up at the name on the
pub: U SZKOTA. He pulls a torn piece of paper out of his shoe
and checks the name
TAVIUS AND WOLFGANG jog to his side.
TAVIUS
The right place?
FERDEK nods.
WOLFGANG glances at the clock above the pub. The TIME is
7:18.
WOLFGANG
We are late.
FERDEK
We are here.
TAVIUS
(forced laugh)
And we don’t yet have need for the
graves the Germans offered us.
FERDEK looks down the street. He sees ...
A SQUAD OF GERMAN SOLDIERS marching down the street toward
them.
FERDEK hurries through the door.
TAVIUS AND WOLFGANG are on his heels.
CUT TO:
INT. USZKOTA - NIGHT - THE SMALL ROOM
Is dark with lit candles burning atop each of the tables It
is a gathering place for WORKERS in dirty clothing on their
way home, and a FEW GIRLS dressed in short, tight-fitting
skirts, seductive sweaters, and black stockings wandering
from table to table.
6.
THE BAR is long and weathered. A LONE BARTENDER leans against
the bar, washing glasses and drying them on a ragged towel.
The place THROBS WITH THE LOW HUM OF VOICES and an OCCASIONAL
LAUGH.
THE BOYS find an empty table in the back corner and sit down.
TAVIUS
What now?
FERDEK
We wait.
WOLFGANG
Jasiek should already be here.
FERDEK
We are at war. Nothing is
guaranteed. Not even time.
TAVIUS
You think he’s coming?
FERDEK
If he’s alive, he will be here.
WOLFGANG
How can you be so sure?
FERDEK
He’s my father’s uncle. He is
family. He is one of us.
TAVIUS
(shaking his head)
He is an old man.
FERDEK
(laughing)
The pistol he carried is old, too,
older than he is. But it has killed
more than one German.
HALINA, a dark-haired girl, stops at their table. She is
still a teenager. She leans across the table wearing a
practiced smile.
HALINA
I have not seen you here before.
WOLFGANG
We only stopped for this night.
We’ll be gone by morning.
7.
HALINA
One night is enough. Halina can
make sure it’s a night you won’t
soon forget.
FERDEK
(curtly)
I am sorry, but you must go and
practice your business elsewhere.
We are meeting someone.
HALINA
A girl, perhaps?
TAVIUS
No.
FERDEK
(quickly)
A girl, perhaps.
HALINA walks seductively away. She glances back over her
shoulder.
HALINA
You will be sorry.
TAVIUS
(muttering to himself)
I’m already sorry.
FERDEK
(forcing a smile)
It’s our loss, I’m sure.
TAVIUS
(frowning)
What was that all about? We’re not
meeting a girl.
FERDEK
Do you know this girl who calls
herself Halina?
TAVIUS
(shakes his head)
Never saw her before.
FERDEK
What do you know about her?
WOLFGANG
She is terribly young.
(MORE)
8.
TAVIUS
And terribly pretty.
FERDEK
Is she Polish?
WOLFGANG
Her name is Polish.
FERDEK
Or is she German? Or is she
sleeping with a German, and how
much would he pay her to find out
who we are and why we are here? One
wrong word to the wrong person, and
tomorrow would come without us.
TAVIUS
Sorry, Ferdek. I wasn’t thinking.
FERDEK
It’s quite simple, my friends. The
less we say, the more the Germans
don’t know.
WOLFGANG
Of course, she may have been an
innocent working girl trying to
survive the night.
FERDEK
(shrugs)
This a time of war in a land that
no longer belongs to us. Nobody is
innocent. Innocence lies beneath
the tracks of the German tanks.
TAVIUS
Not even a pretty girl?
FERDEK
She could take a table knife cut
your throat, and never lose her
smile.
WOLFGANG
You don’t trust anyone, do you,
Ferdek?
FERDEK
Trust no one. The shadows have
eyes, and they are watching us.
Even a friend will sell you out for
a loaf of bread if he is hungry.
FERDEK (CONT’D)
9.
We have a job to do, and it must be
done tonight. We may fail. We may
never see another morning. But we
have one chance to stop the German
march. At the moment, no one, not
even my father, knows we are here
or why we are here, and that’s the
way it must remain.