The Royal Tenenbaums · written by Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson · 2001

On the roof, Margot and Richie smoke cigarettes from her old hiding place and wonder about the falcon’s white feathers.

Scene 134 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Margot
Richie

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Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:53 into a 1:59 film

The story so farBefore scene 134

After losing his hotel room, Royal claims he has only weeks to live so he can move back in with his estranged family; as the truth unravels, he must find a way to be useful and earn a place in their lives.

Scenes 1–39
Royal is absent from the children’s adult lives, and their family remains shaped by his betrayals and abandonment.
Scenes 40–47
Royal wants a path back to Etheline and the children, and claims impending death will give him one.
Scenes 48–50
He returns to the house and openly asks his children for a chance to make things right.
Scenes 51–90
Royal tries to reconnect through schemes, misjudgments and genuine care, learning that affection alone cannot erase old injuries.
Scenes 91–92
Royal admits to Etheline that he hoped to win her back and remove Henry, revealing the motive behind his return.
Scenes 92–110
Royal loses the household and faces separation again; Richie’s suicide attempt exposes the family’s deeper pain.
Scenes 111–133
Royal returns to a useful place in the family by listening to Richie and protecting Ari and Uzi during the wedding-day crash.
Just before
Scene 131
In the neighbor’s Zen garden, Chas and Eli admit they both need help after Buckley’s death.
Scene 132
Royal asks the Japanese ambassador to let them into the backyard, and Henry tells him he is not an asshole.
Scene 133
Emergency responders handle the crash aftermath; Royal gives Chas a new dog, and Chas accepts the gesture.
Scene 134
This scene

134EXT. ROOF. DAY.

Richie and Margot sit near the edge of the roof, next to the falcon in its coop. Richie has an ice pack over his eye. He brushes his hand against the white feathers on the falcon’s neck.

MARGOT

I wonder what happened to him.

RICHIE

I don’t know.

(pause)

Sometimes when people have a traumatic

experience, their hair turns white.

Silence. Margot says quietly:

MARGOT

Well, I’m sure he’ll get over it.

Richie nods. Margot looks at him for a minute. She takes her inhaler out of her mouth and puts it in her pocket. She turns and looks at the top of the chimney. She pulls out a loose brick. She reaches behind it and takes out a pack of cigarettes and a matchbook. She looks to Richie. She points at the chimney.

MARGOT (CONT’D)

This was one of my first hiding places.

Richie studies the pack of cigarettes. It is still sealed, but the wrapper has faded.

RICHIE

How old you think those are?

Margot opens the pack, takes out a cigarette, puts it in her mouth, and lights it. She takes a puff.

MARGOT

I’d say about ten years.

Richie nods. Margot offers him a cigarette. He takes it, and she lights it. Margot puts her arm around Richie’s shoulder, and they smoke their stale cigarettes together.