Script Analysis: “The Grand Budapest Hotel” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). You may download the script here.

Screenplay by Wes Anderson, story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness, inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig

IMDb plot summary: The adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Scene by Scene Breakdown
by Rob Hoskins
GoIntoTheStory.com

1–2: In present day, a girl enters Old Lutz Cemetery. She stops at a bust of ‘Author’, memorialized with hotel-room keys hanging on hooks. She holds a book, ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’, with the Author’s face on the back cover. Twenty years prior, in his study, the same-aged author, begins the narration of the story.

2–6: The late sixties. The author describes how he came to take up rooms in the once-celebrated GBH, and laments its “present” state and descent into shabbiness. It is sparsely populated by a rather solitary group of vacationers, and overseen by the second-rate concierge M. Jean.

Introducing Mr. Moustafa. A figure projecting true loneliness. M. Jean provides an overview of his rags to riches story and the author is intrigued. The primer on Mr. Moustafa is interrupted as M. Jean sprints to action, to save a fat businessman from choking on his biscotti.

6–8: Fate intervenes, and the author and Mr. Moustafa meet in the hammam. Mr. Moustafa opens a polite conversation by stating his admiration for the author’s work. “How did you come to buy it… the Grand Budapest?”, the curious author inquires. Mr. Moustafa invites him to dine and to hear his story.

8: Mr. Moustafa commences the narration of the main story: ‘It begins of course with…’

Part 1: “M. Gustave”

9–16: M. Gustave, in his element, directing hotel staff in the service of guests. An elegant, well-oiled (and well-perfumed) machine. He sits with Madame C.V.D.u.T. (referred to in the script as “Madame D.”). It soon becomes apparent that M.G. is personally redefining “customer service”. He attempts to soothe her fearful intuition that they will never see each other again. They exchange “I love you”s, and he abruptly dispatches Madame D.’s driver to Lutz. As M. Gustave dictates to the lobby boy he suddenly realizes that he doesn’t know him.

16–19: Young Zero Moustafa’s interview begins. He has “zero” experience, education, or family, but impresses M.G. with a perfect answer to a deceptively tricky question.

19–20: Montage: Lobby Boy training begins. M. Gustave will be Zero’s counselor and guardian.

Zero performs the various and sundry tasks and duties of his position, anticipating the needs of the guests, with discretion as a guiding principle.

21–22: Zero begins to realize that, with respect to M. Gustave, “many of the guests came for him”, and that it “was also his pleasure.”

22–23: A day in the life, as Zero awakens in his tiny room and quickly grooms himself.
Gustave sermonizes and recites from a small podium in the mess hall as the staff is served.

M.G. dines in a small room, nearly identical to Zero’s, but well-stocked with “L’air de Panache”.

23: Deputy Kovacs arrives to review the books with M. Gustave and business manager Herr Becker. Kovacs also conveys messages on behalf of the mysterious, unidentified owner of the GBH.

23–24: Introducing Agatha. Plain, graceful, seventeen years old, with a birthmark the shape of Mexico on the side of her face. She works a rolling pin in Mendl’s patisserie and has the air of a true artisan. She rides her bicycle through the town, a yoke bearing pink boxes balanced across her shoulders. Mr. Moustafa’s story ends abruptly: “ — but we won’t discuss that.”

Part 2: “Madame C.V.D.u.T.”

24–26: Carrying a stack of newspapers, Zero scans the headlines and comes to a stop. He dashes off to share the news with M. Gustave: Madame D. is dead. M.G.: “We must go to her.” He instructs Zero to pack quickly… and to bring a bottle of the Pouilly-Jouve ‘26.

26–31: As the train speeds toward Lutz, they sit in the first class cabin drinking chilled white wine. M.G. assesses the situation, particulary the disposition and motives of Madame D.’s family. He waxes philosophic, and rather bluntly discusses their physical intimacy.

The train comes to an abrupt halt in the middle of nowhere, and soldiers burst into their cabin. They ask them to produce papers, and briefly question Zero. M.G.’s charm offensive fails, and the soldiers sieze Zero against the protestations of his guardian. Cpt. Henckels arrives, having heard the commotion. He recognizes M. Gustave and apologizes, ordering his and Zero’s release. He gives Zero a temporary transit permit.

Gustave favorably notes the “faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.”

31–34: They arrive in Lutz, at Madame D.’s mansion. Clotilde the maid attends to them.

Gustave surveys Madame D.’s corpse and expresses his admiration for her appearance. She has finally gotten in right… in death.

The butler M. Serge, via Clotilde, asks for a word with M.G. He and Zero wait for a moment for Serge, who is seen through the glass looking agitated and distraught.

34–39: M. Gustave impatiently marches into the Grand Hall, where relatives close and distant have gathered, their greed roused.

Kovacs enters and unceremoniously deposits onto a podium a large pile of documents that comprise Madame D.’s last will and testament. He sums up her intention as granting the bulk of the estate to Dimitri, her son, but then refers to an “additional codicil” recently received but not yet legally verified.

He reads the codicil: M. Gustave receives the priceless painting “Boy with Apple”.

Dimitri, outraged, confronts M.G., questioning both his intentions and his virility. A punchout, with the final blow struck by Dimitri’s muscle, Jopling.

39–42: M.G. goes to leave. Waiting again for the still agitated Serge, he piques Zero’s interest and they go to have a look at the painting. Zero suggests, first with his eyes, then by fetching a footstool, that possession is nine tenths of the law.

Serge wraps the painting for them, but not before surreptitiously inserting a letter marked “Confidential”. He remains cryptic, preferring to say no more. They depart for the train station.

42–44: In their train compartment at night, M. Gustave and Zero make a pact. They will sell “Boy with Apple”, with Zero to receive a commission, and then “lay low somewhere along the Maltese Riviera until the troubles blow over”. M.G. also bequeaths his belongings to Zero upon his death in exchange for Zero’s assistance.

44–45: Back at The Grand Budapest, they hide and lock up the painting. One of the bellboys advises that the police have arrived and are asking for M. Gustave. M.G. warns Zero to remain silent before the authorities. They announce his arrest. He acknowledges the murder, as if having suspected it, then suddenly bolts to escape. The policemen give chase.

Part 3: “Checkpoint 19 Criminal Internment Camp”

45–49: Zero visits M. Gustave, whose eyes are blackened. He has had to prove his virility to his new best friends.

Zero has spoken to Kovacs, who in flashback explains the theory of M.G.’s guilt to zero. Serge is revealed to have been the “witness” to M.G.’s illegal entry. Zero attempts to encourage M. Gustave and leaves him with a courtesan au chocolat from Mendl’s.

49–50: The dark, menacing Jopling visits the sister of Serge, looking for him. He continues his search by night, speeding through the city on his black motorcycle.

50–52: Zero reads a letter from M.G. to the staff, dictating his wishes and effectively managing the hotel from prison. Zero embodies the presence of M. Gustave, even taking the time to recite his tediously florid stanzas from the podium.

52–56: M. Gustave makes friends in prison, serving mush to a scar-faced giant, then sharing a beautiful, decadent Mendl’s pastry with Pinky and the gang. Ludwig sums up the physical challenges of an escape. They’ve found a possible way out, but need digging tools.

56: Returning to Mr. Moustafa, who cries as he recounts to the author the role Agatha played.

56–58: Zero and Agatha’s romance. He proposes, she accepts. He presents her with a gift of poetry.

58–59: M. Gustave interviews Agatha, ostensibly on Zero’s behalf. He playfully flirts with her and gives her gifts — a white porcelain pendant and five dozen white tulips — arousing Zero’s jealousy.

59–60: The equally brave and skilled Agatha hides digging tools in pastries so beautifully decorated that the “slice and dice” guard decides against damaging them with his cleaver.

60–62: Kovacs attempts to counsel Dimitri and family but they refuse his advice, uninterested in either the legal process or the intentions of the deceased. Jopling throws Kovacs’ cat out the window.

62: M. Gustave and the inmates are making progress, digging through the floor of their cell.

62–64: Zero sneaks into Agatha’s room and they share a couple’s moment together. He tells her of the stolen painting. She refuses to participate or even accept the note describing its location. He leaves it for her anyway.

64–66: Jopling rejoins his pursuit of Kovacs, following him to and through the darkened art museum. He slams shut an exit door, cutting off Kovacs’ escape route and his fingers, then delivers the death blow.

Later Herr Becker receives a message from the office of Kovacs, postponing their scheduled meeting indefinitely.

67–75: Zero arrives by bus to a dark, deserted roadside. He makes his way to an open area with a manhole, and seems to be waiting.

Lights out in the prison, and the inmates make their escape. M. Gustave’s large, scar-faced friend aides them by silencing a would-be whistle blower. One inmate loses his life as he assassinates three guards gathered around a card table.

They exit through the manhole, to the waiting Zero. M.G. introduces them all and begins to pontificate. The other three beat a hasty retreat to a waiting bus.

For his part, Zero has failed to secure a safe house, an escape route, and has even failed to bring the L’air de Panache. M.G. berates him, until Zero explains how he became a refugee. M.G. delivers a heartful apology on behalf of himself and the hotel, and reiterates to Zero and his affection for him. “We’re brothers”, says Zero.

Gustave makes a collect call to M. Ivan of…

Part 4: “The Society of the Crossed Keys”

76–78: The concierge fraternity jumps into action. A chain of phone calls. Each concierge drops what he is doing — whether giving directions, conducting a chorus of “Happy Birthday”, or administering emergency medical assistance — and delegates to his second in command. “Take over!”

78–81: M. Gustave assesses the situation and tries to make sense of it all, alongside a confused Zero. M. Ivan speeds into frame in his limo and spirits them away to the train station. The society has found Serge and a meeting with him has already been arranged. And M. Ivan has even brought the L’air de Panache.

81–83: Cpt. Henckels discovers their escape and gives “dragnet” instructions. Jopling also begins tracking them.

83–84: Dimitri orders Jopling to step up the aggression with Serge’s sister. He suddenly notices the obscene painting which has taken the place of “Boy with Apple”, and smashes it against a small marble statue.

84–86: M.G. puts Serge’s supposed betrayal in perspective. He expresses to Zero his admiration for Agatha and asks to officiate the wedding.

86–87: Alone in her room, Agatha packs. Hearing a noise, she sticks her head through the frame of the skylight. She sees nothing.

Henckels reads a headline “Young Girl’s Head Found in Laundry Basket”. The basket is brought to him. He reaches in and lifts out the head of Serge’s sister.

Part 5: “Gabelmeister’s Peak”

87–95: In the Alpine foothills, Jopling examines a bloodied document as a young attendant fuels up his motorcycle.

Soldiers catch the scent of L’air de Panache.

Zero and M. Gustave make for their high-altitude rendez-vous with Serge X. A monk instructs that they board the next cable car. Halfway up, another monk intercepts them and switches cable cars with the two, sending them off to the opposite peak. A third monk provides them with robes and bibles to join the choral assembly. The final monk send them to confess.

Serge sits opposite in the confessional box. He tells M.G. that there is a second will, and he has made a second copy. Suddenly his story is interrupted. He has been strangled by a now escaping Jopling.

95–99: As Jopling skis away, M.G. and Zero give chase by sled. They speed down the mountain, with Zero barely able to steer.

Jopling comes to the end of the run and watches as M. Gustave and Zero come barreling down, out of control, slamming into the snow bank at the bottom, then flying through the air. Zero lands head first in the snow, practically disappearing, and M. Gustave is nearly thrown off the edge of the cliff.

As M.G. dangles over the edge, Jopling fractures the ice with the heel of his boot. Graceful even in the face of death, M. Gustave’s poetic verses are rudely interrupted as Zero shoves Jopling off the mountain.

Henckels spots the fugitive and accomplice and warns them not to flee. They flee. Zero’s plan is to steal Jopling’s motorcycle, fetch Agatha, take back “Boy with Apple”, and head for the Maltese Riviera, once and for all. But first, a moment of silence for Serge.

99–109: Mr. Moustafa narrates: “The war began at midnight.” The lobby of the GBH is filled with fascists. It has become “a troops’ barracks”. “Z-Z” symbols are plastered everywhere.

Agatha makes a delivery of pink boxes for the soldiers as M. Chuck manages room logistics for his new guests.

Agatha, alone in the vault, follows Zero’s written instructions and retrieves the wrapped painting. Outside the hotel, M. Gustave and Zero observe from a Mendl’s truck. M.G. laments the state of the Grand Budapest under its new occupants. They watch with concern as Dimitri enters the hotel.

Agatha looks for an escape route, and bee-lines into the elevator, asking the operator for the top floor. Dimitri intercepts her and goes along for the ride, while she nervously avoids eye contact. He eyes the package she’s carrying and gingerly peels back the wrapping. “Boy with Apple”.

Gustave and Zero deliver another stack of pink pastry boxes courtesy of Herr Mendl. Dimitri follows Agatha off the elevator and she makes a break for it. He has lost her in the hallway. As M.G. and Zero step from the elevator Dimitri spots them and opens fire. A shootout ensues as soldiers step out from their rooms to enter the fray. Henckels calls for them to cease fire.

A scream. Agatha, and the painting, hang from the edge of the building. Zero leaps to save her, but overshoots and now dangles from the same railing. They are saved as they crash into the Mendl’s truck below.

She has noticed something on the back of the painting…

Part 6: “The Second Copy of the Second Will”

109–114: Madame D. left everything to M. Gustave: the mansion, the factories, a newspaper syndicate… and the GBH.

M.G. anoints Zero as his successor, the new concierge. He officiates the wedding of Zero and Agatha. Mr. Moustafa recounts how two years later Agatha and his infant son died from the ‘Prussian gripe’.

Zero and Agatha travel with M. Gustave by train toward Lutz. M.G. acknowledges his humble beginnings as a lobby boy, and that Zero finally surpassed him. Agatha recites a stanza about two brothers, “one from the east and one from the west”.

They are again stopped in the middle of nowhere by fascist thugs. This time they are not so lucky. The leader rips up Zero’s transit papers. M. Gustave steps up to defend him.

Back to 1965: Mr. Moustafa reveals that the soldiers shot him.

114–117: In summing up M. Gustave he echoes his mentor’s own words. “There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse once known as humanity. He was one of them.”

The author inquires hesitantly as to why Mr. Moustafa has traded a great fortune for this doomed hotel. He kept it for Agatha. Her crossed-keys pendant is pinned to his jacket.

The author sits alone writing in a small notebook.

“It was an enchanting old ruin, but I never managed to see it again.”

The author at seventy five sits alone writing in a small notebook.

Back to present day. The girl sits on a bench, finishing the final chapter of “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

If you’d like a PDF of The Grand Budapest Hotel script scene-by-scene breakdown, go here.

Kudos to Rob Hoskins for doing the scene-by-scene breakdown.

For 100+ movie scripts broken down scene by scene, go here.