Passes the Bechdel test

8½

Name: 8½
Released: 1963

1963. Directed by Federico Fellini, written by Federico Fellini and Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
25 women characters. 20 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Guido is a film director, trying to relax after his last big hit. He can't get a moment's peace, however, with the people who have worked with him in the past constantly looking for more work. He wrestles with his conscience, but is unable to come up with a new idea. While thinking, he starts to recall major happenings in his life, and all the women he has loved and left. An autobiographical film of Fellini, about the trials and tribulations of film making.

Released: 24 Jun 1963
Genres: Drama
Rated: Not Rated
IMDb: 8 / 10
Metascore: 93 / 100
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. 19 wins & 9 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Guido 584 lines, man
Luisa 113 lines, woman
Pace 108 lines, man
Carla 96 lines, woman
Daumier 75 lines, man
Claudia 64 lines, woman
Actress 60 lines, woman
Cesarino 52 lines, man
Maurice 49 lines, man
Mezzabotta 48 lines, man

Full cast, 50 people

Marcello Mastroianni as Guido Anselmi
Claudia Cardinale as Claudia
Anouk Aimée as Luisa Anselmi
Sandra Milo as Carla
Rossella Falk as Rossella
Barbara Steele as Gloria Morin
Madeleine Lebeau as Madeleine, the French Actress
Caterina Boratto as Mysterious Lady
Eddra Gale as La Saraghina
Guido Alberti as Pace, the Producer
Mario Conocchia as Conocchia, the Production Manager
Bruno Agostini as Bruno, the Second Production Secretary
Cesarino Miceli Picardi as Cesarino, the Production Supervisor
Jean Rougeul as Carini, the Film Critic
Mario Pisu as Mario Mezzabotta
Yvonne Casadei as Jacqueline Bonbon
Ian Dallas as Maurice, Maya's Assistant
Mino Doro as Claudia's Agent
Nadia Sanders as Nadine, the Hostess
Georgia Simmons as Guido's Grandmother
Edy Vessel as Hedy, The Model
Tito Masini as The Cardinal
Annie Gorassini as Producer's Friend
Rossella Como as Luisa's Friend
Mark Herron as Luisa's Suitor
Marisa Colomber as Guido's Aunt
Neil Robinson as The French Actress's Agent
Elisabetta Catalano as Matilde, Luisa's Sister
Eugene Walter as The American Journalist
Hazel Rogers as La negretta
Gilda Dahlberg as American Journalist's Wife
Mario Tarchetti as Claudia's Press Office
Mary Indovino as Maya, the Clairvoyant
Frazier Rippy as The Lay Secretary
Francesco Rigamonti as Luisa's Friend
Giulio Paradisi as A Friend
Marco Gemini as Guido as a Child
Giuditta Rissone as Guido's Mother
Annibale Ninchi as Guido's Father
Dina De Santis as Dina (uncredited)
Eva Gioia as Eva (uncredited)
Maria Tedeschi as School Director (uncredited)
Antonio Acqua as A Man in a Car (uncredited)
Giulio Calì as A Man in the Mud (uncredited)
Franco Caracciolo as Young Priest (uncredited)
Olimpia Cavalli as Olimpia (uncredited)
Sonia Gessner as (uncredited)
Mathilda Calnan as Luisa's Friend (uncredited)
Nadia Balabine as Priest Teacher (uncredited)
John Karlsen

Who talks, scene by scene

We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

AMERICAN JOURNALIST’S WIFE: You’re the famous capitalist from Milan. FIRST WOMAN: I saw her passport. She’s fifty-two years old! SECOND WOMAN: Just a baby!

NANNY IN WHITE: What are you doing? Go to sleep, go to sleep... you too, go to sleep. NANNY IN WHITE: Guidino, get under the covers. It’s cold. Be still. NANNY IN BLACK: Did you say your prayers? NANNY IN WHITE: My little sweetheart, aren’t you my little sweetheart?

DINA: My friend here says... DINA: ...she says you can’t make a love story. EVA: Shut up!

LUISA: My friend. ROSSELLA: Ah.

LUISA: I didn’t ask you any question. I don’t want to know anything. Just spare me the embarrassment of having to listen to you swear to a lie, as … ROSSELLA: Was she born in March or April? She has all the characteristics of an Aries. She is really the Aries type. LUISA: I know what type that one is! ROSSELLA: Yes? It’s precisely that type of woman who tends to be a good companion for weak, spineless, confused me.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.

658 lines from women, 1116 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

25 women and 21 men in the cast. 20 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 71 of 1,892. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 70 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 38% of the words (6,131), men 62% (10,098). Women have 37% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit E: 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 F: behind the camera

None of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 4% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Federico Fellini (man)
Written by: Ennio Flaiano (man), Tullio Pinelli (man), Brunello Rondi (man), Federico Fellini (man)
Story by: Ennio Flaiano (man), Federico Fellini (man)
Produced by: Angelo Rizzoli (man)
Shot by: Gianni Di Venanzo (man)
Edited by: Leo Catozzo (man)
Music by: Nino Rota (man)
Production design by: Piero Gherardi (man)
Costumes by: Piero Gherardi (man)