TSAR'S DAUGHTER MARIE（37）

【原創電影劇本英文版】

INT. COMMANDANT'S OFFICE -- IPATIEV HOSE -- NIGHT

Yurovsky lies on his sofa, a cold compress across his forehead. Someone knocks on the door. Yurovsky jumps out of the sofa and try to stand steadily to face the coming guard.

GUARD

Report: some looting takes place downstairs.

YUROVSKY

Apparently they've brought valuable things with them.

Yurovsky rushes out of the office, followed by the guard.

INT. MURDER ROOM -- NIGHT

Yurovsky runs back to the murder room pocked with bullet holes on the walls and still lingered by fog of smoke. He catches out the guards searching and pilfering. The abandoned corpses lie wrapped in blood-soaked blankets.

YUROVSKY

I demand you to hand over all valuable articles you've taken from the corpses, immediately.

The looting guards ignore the Commandant's order.

YUROVSKY (CONT'D)

If you refuse to obey, I'll shoot you.

While Yurovsky raises his pistol to aim, the guards turn over diamond brooches, pearl necklaces, gold rings...

INT. SECONDARY STAIRCASE -- NIGHT

Jemmy, the imperial family's dog, rushes down the staircase, whimpering. A soldier grabs a bayonet and impales the dog to death.

INT. IPATIEV HOUSE  NIGHT

MONTAGE

The corpses are removed from the murder room through the corridor, the guardrooms, up the flight of stairs, and out into the courtyard, leaving a trail of blood behind.

EXT. COURTYARD -- NIGHT

In the dark, a guard spreads a roll of canvas over the rear BED of the Fiat truck. The BODIES are laid onto the bed. A DEAD DOG is heaved onto the bodies.

As a guard try to cover the bodies with a cloth, Yurovsky stops him and begins to count the corpse.

YUROVSKY

There're only ten bodies. We miss one of the girls.

NIKULIN

Who? Which girl?

YUROVSKY

Marie, yes, Marie, I didn't see her body here.

NIKULIN

Marie? How come we lost her?

YUROVSKY

Nikulin, I order you to search her, out and in. Hurry up.

NIKULIN

Yes, Sir.

Nikulin runs away in haste with a squad of guards.

INT. TRUCK -- NIGHT

Yurovsky climbs into the truck and squeezes in the cab alongside Ermakov and the chauffeur. Yurovsky glances at his WATCH. It is three A.M.

In the rear of the truck, three armed guards crouch in pools of blood beside the mound of dead bodies shielded by flimsy wooden side rails along the bed of the truck.

The chauffeur starts the engine and the truck swings out of the gates.

EXT. STREETS -- EKATERINBURG -- NIGHT

The truck rumbles down the road, twists through the city, and turns off in the direct of forest.

INT. CHAMBER -- CATHEDRAL -- DAY

Sister leads Victor and Marie into a chamber to hide them. Sister brings a first-aid kit and bandages up Marie's injured leg and chest.

SISTER

You're not safe here. They'll trace the blood stain to the doorstep of the cathedral.

VICTOR

You're right, Sister. We can't stay here long. We have to go.

SISTER

Okay, I'll arrange to get a wagon. Just wait for me.

Sister leaves the chamber in a hurry.

MARIE

I'm injured. I'm in pain, Victor. I can't go far. You go alone, please.

VICTOR

I can't leave you alone. You shall go with me. We go together. I can carry you all the way.

MARIE

No, I'm heavy. I don't want to be your burden.

VICTOR

No, you're not my burden. You're my love. You're my life. I'd marry you.

MARIE

Oh, Victor, did you say you'd marry me?

VCITOR

Yes, I'd marry you.

MARIE

Is it a proposal?

VICTOR

Yes, Marie, will you marry me?

MARIE

Yes, I will marry you. I'd been waiting for this day since I first met you.

Sister comes back with a PRIEST.

PRIEST

May God bless you, my children.

VICTOR

Father, may I make a request?

PRIEST

Say it, Victor.

VICTOR

(looking at Marie)

We'd like to get married.

PRIEST

Oh, when?

VICTOR

Now.

PRIEST

Now?

VICTOR/MARIE

Yes, now, right now.

PRIEST

(holding the Bible)

Are you ready?

Victor takes off his cap, combs his and Marie's hair with his fingers, wipes mud off their faces and tidies their bedraggled clothes. Victor puts a sheltering arm around Marie and supports her. Marie struggles to stand up and leans against him.

VICTOR/MARIE

(unanimously)

Yes, Father, we're ready.

PRIEST

Do you, Mr. Victor Patrov, take Her Highness Marie Nikolaievna to be your lawfully wedded wife, even if she's been vitally injured and in sickness?

VICTOR

Yes, I do.

PRIEST

Do you, Your Highness Marie Nikolaievna, take Mr. Victor Patrov to be your lawfully wedded husband, even if he's been hotly pursued and in poverty?

MARIE

Yes, I do.

PRIEST

Now, I pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.

Victor and Marie kiss with tender passion. Sister watches them in tears.

Sister looks through the window and sees a group of soldiers running toward the cathedral.

SISTER

Oh, my God. They're coming. Let's go, hurry up.

EXT. CATHEDRAL -- DAY

A wagon drives along the street, carrying away Victor and Marie disguised themselves as peasants. Marie is wrapped up in a shawl. Victor slips his sheepskin coat off and drapes it over Marie's shoulders. Wiping his hand across her face, Victor dries the tears on Marie's cheeks.

VICTOR

Are your cold? I can hear your teeth chattering.

MARIE

I'm fine.

INT. CATHEDRAL -- DAY

Nikulin leads a group of Bolshevik soldiers search the cathedral thoroughly for the escapees.

EXT. KOPTYAKI FOREST -- DAY

The forest is swamped with wild grass and circled by trunks of birch and pines. The early morning light shines through the shield of densely grown leaves.

The guards unloaded the corpses, tossing them from the dirty truck bed into the long wet grass. Their boots sinking deeply into the swampy grass, the guards dig with shovels a pit wide and deep enough to conceal the corpses.

While stripping the clothes off the corpses, the guards discover jewels concealed beneath the clothes and hidden in the pillows caries by Anna. Yurovsky pulls from around Alexandra's waist several long strands of pearls.

The jewels are collected and taken away. The bloody clothes are thrown into the fire and burned. Piles of naked corpses lie stiff on the muddy ground.

YUROVSKY

Burn the corpses. Begin with Alexei.

The guards open the barrels of gasoline and soak Alexei's body with it. When the frozen body is on fire, it smokes and hisses. The guards retreat and cover their noses with their hands to avoid stinking smell.

The bodies are doused with sulfuric acid and thrown into the muddy pit flooded with murky water. The guards pour more acid over the corpses, shovel a hail of heavy debris and earth to cover the pit and compact the grave area.