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.