Passes the Bechdel test

A Dry White Season

Name: A Dry White Season
Released: 1989

1989. Directed by Euzhan Palcy, written by André P. Brink and Colin Welland and Euzhan Palcy.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 7 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 160.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

Ben du Toit (Donald Sutherland) is a schoolteacher who always has considered himself a man of caring and justice, at least on the individual level. When his gardener, Stanley's (Zakes Mokae's) son, Jonathan (Bekhithemba Mpofu), is brutally beaten up by the Police at a demonstration by black school children, he gradually begins to realize his own society is built on a pillar of injustice and exploitation.

Released: 20 Sep 1989
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 68 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 9 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Ben 409 lines, man
Stanley 136 lines, man
Melanie 60 lines, woman
Susan 59 lines, woman
Stolz 55 lines, man
Viljoen 42 lines, man
De Villiers 37 lines, man
Gordon 36 lines, man
Johan 35 lines, man
Suzette 33 lines, woman

Full cast, 39 people

Donald Sutherland as Ben du Toit
Janet Suzman as Susan du Toit
Zakes Mokae as Stanley Makhaya
Jürgen Prochnow as Captain Stolz
Susan Sarandon as Melanie Bruwer
Marlon Brando as Ian McKenzie
Winston Ntshona as Gordon Ngubene
Thoko Ntshinga as Emily Ngubene
Leonard Maguire as Bruwer
Gerard Thoolen as Colonel Viljoen
Susannah Harker as Suzette du Toit
Rowen Elmes as Johan du Toit
Stella Dickin as Susan's Mother
David de Keyser as Susan's Father
John Kani as Julius
Andrew Whaley as Chris
Sophie Mgcina as Margaret
Bekhithemba Mpofu as Jonathan
Tinashe Makoni as Robert
Precious Phiri as Wellington
Richard Wilson as Cloete
Derek Hanekom as Viviers
Michael Gambon as Magistrate
Ronald Pickup as Louw
Paul Brooke as Dr Herzog
Ernest Ndhlovu as Archibald Mabaso
Stephen Hanly as Sgt. Van Zyl
Andrew Proctor as Jaimie
Kevin Johnson as Gert
Grant Davidson as Lt. Venter
Ndu Gumeme as Douma
Sello Maake Ka-Ncube as Johnson Seroke
Charles Pillai as Dr. Hassiem
Rosemary Martin as Mrs Beachley
Willie Zweni as Aubrey Kunene
Mercia Davids as Sadie
Mannie De Villiers as Police Commandant
Anna Manimanzi as Soweto Girl
Tina Simmons as Court Reporter (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 160

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	12
5 to 8	6	21
9 to 12	3	2
13 to 16	6	15
17 to 20	1	6
21 to 24	0	15
25 to 28	0	5
29 to 32	2	16
33 to 36	7	21
37 to 40	4	19
41 to 44	1	12
45 to 48	0	55
49 to 52	9	10
53 to 56	3	7
57 to 60	1	8
61 to 64	13	58
65 to 68	0	32
69 to 72	4	36
73 to 76	0	3
77 to 80	16	35
81 to 84	9	81
85 to 88	29	28
89 to 92	6	9
93 to 96	6	37
97 to 100	10	52
101 to 104	9	39
105 to 108	7	51
109 to 112	7	13
113 to 116	5	76
117 to 120	15	19
121 to 124	2	5
125 to 128	1	39
129 to 132	12	24
133 to 136	9	8
137 to 140	0	68
141 to 144	1	22
145 to 148	0	9
149 to 152	3	4
153 to 156	3	4
157 to 160	0	1

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

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

SUSAN: This bloody Bruwer woman reports one hundred shot, but the radio said only twenty and the police were attacked first. SUZETTE: I thought the idea was to give them their own areas, banstustans. Let them live with their own kind. No chance of conflict then. Everybody's…