Fails the Bechdel test

1492: Conquest of Paradise

Name: 1492: Conquest of Paradise
Released: 1992

1992. Directed by Ridley Scott, written by Rose Bosch.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

No 1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Big budget account of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas. Released in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery. Shows the disastrous effects the Europeans had on the original inhabitants, and Columbus' struggle to civilize the New World.

Released: 09 Oct 1992
Genres: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: 2 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Columbus 255 lines, man
Sanchez 48 lines, man
Marchena 36 lines, man
Isabel 31 lines
Pinzon 30 lines, man
Fernando 28 lines, man
Arojaz 25 lines, man
Moxica 19 lines, man
Utapan 16 lines, man
Alonso 14 lines, man

Full cast, 21 people

Gérard Depardieu as Christopher Columbus
Armand Assante as Sanchez
Sigourney Weaver as Queen Isabella
Loren Dean as Older Fernando
Ángela Molina as Beatrix
Fernando Rey as Marchena
Michael Wincott as Adrian de Moxica
Kevin Dunn as Captain Mendez
Tchéky Karyo as Martín Alonso Pinzón
Frank Langella as Santangel
Mark Margolis as Bobadilla
Arnold Vosloo as Guevara
Steven Waddington as Bartolome
Fernando Guillén Cuervo as Giacomo
Juan Diego Botto as Diego
Fernando García Rimada as King Ferdinand
Albert Vidal as Hernando de Talavera
José Luis Ferrer as Alonso de Bolaños
Jack Taylor as Vicuna
Billy L. Sullivan as Ten-Year-Old Fernando
John Heffernan as Brother Buyl

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 157

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 4	0	15
5 to 8	0	33
9 to 12	4	13
13 to 16	0	39
17 to 20	0	40
21 to 24	0	12
25 to 28	0	24
29 to 32	3	5
33 to 36	0	23
37 to 40	1	6
41 to 44	0	30
45 to 48	0	7
49 to 52	0	29
53 to 56	0	5
57 to 60	0	7
61 to 64	0	4
65 to 68	0	7
69 to 72	0	18
73 to 76	0	9
77 to 80	0	33
81 to 84	2	11
85 to 88	0	28
89 to 92	0	14
93 to 96	0	11
97 to 100	0	6
101 to 104	0	7
105 to 108	0	2
109 to 112	0	2
113 to 116	0	5
117 to 120	0	6
121 to 124	0	1
125 to 128	0	5
129 to 132	0	33
133 to 136	2	12
137 to 140	0	14
141 to 144	0	10
145 to 148	0	5
149 to 152	0	6
153 to 156	2	36
157 to 157	0	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 2 are women's.

14 lines from women, 573 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

2 women and 18 men in the cast. 1 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 62 of 637. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 169 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (85), men 99% (6,117). Women have 2% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

5 of the 22 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ridley Scott (man)
Written by: Roselyne Bosch (woman)
Story by: Roselyne Bosch (woman)
Produced by: Alain Goldman (man), Ridley Scott (man), Marc Boyman (man), Pere Fages (gender not listed), Garth Thomas (gender not listed), Roselyne Bosch (woman)
Shot by: Adrian Biddle (man)
Edited by: William M. Anderson (man), Françoise Bonnot (woman), Armen Minasian (man), Les Healey (gender not listed), Deborah Zeitman (gender not listed)
Music by: Vangelis (man)
Production design by: Norris Spencer (man)
Costumes by: Charles Knode (man), Barbara Rutter (gender not listed)
Cast by: Louis DiGiaimo (man), Dan Parada (gender not listed), Priscilla John (woman)