Fails the Bechdel test
A Serious Man
2009. Directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Bloomington, Minnesota, 1967: Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job; his pot-head son, who gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah, only wants him round to fix the TV aerial and his useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house-guest. But both Arthur and Larry get turfed out to a motel when Larry's wife Judy, who wants a divorce, moves her lover Sy into the house and even after Sy's death in a car crash they are still there. With lawyers' bills mounting for his divorce, Arthur's criminal court appearances, and a land feud with a neighbor, Larry is tempted to take the bribe offered by a student to give him an illegal exam pass mark. And the rabbis he visits for advice only dole out platitudes. Still God moves in mysterious---and not always pleasant---ways, as Larry and his family will find out.
- Released
- 06 Nov 2009
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 88 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 17 wins & 80 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Larry 444 lines, man
- Danny 82 lines, man
- Don 38 lines
- Arthur 30 lines, man
- Voice 30 lines
- Sarah 29 lines, woman
- Clive 26 lines, man
- Judy 26 lines
- Sy 24 lines, man
- Judith 22 lines, woman
Full cast, 48 people
- Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik
- Richard Kind as Uncle Arthur
- Fred Melamed as Sy Ableman
- Sari Lennick as Judith Gopnik
- Aaron Wolff as Danny Gopnik
- Jessica McManus as Sarah Gopnik
- Peter Breitmayer as Mr. Brandt
- Brent Braunschweig as Mitch Brandt
- David Kang as Clive Park
- Benjamin Portnoe as Danny's Reefer Buddy
- Jack Swiler as Boy on Bus
- Andrew S. Lentz as Cursing Boy on Bus
- Jon Kaminski Jr. as Mike Fagle
- Ari Hoptman as Arlen Finkle
- Alan Mandell as Rabbi Marshak
- Amy Landecker as Mrs. Samsky
- George Wyner as Rabbi Nachtner
- Michael Tezla as Dr. Sussman
- Katherine Borowitz as Friend at the Picnic
- Steve Park as Clive's Father
- Allen Lewis Rickman as Shtetl Husband
- Yelena Shmulenson as Shtetl Wife
- Fyvush Finkel as Dybbuk?
- Ronald Schultz as Hebrew School Teacher
- Raye Birk as Dr. Shapiro
- Jane Hammill as Larry's Secretary
- Claudia Wilkens as Marshak's Secretary
- Simon Helberg as Rabbi Scott
- Adam Arkin as Divorce Lawyer
- James Cada as Cop #1
- Michael Lerner as Solomon Schlutz
- Charles Brin as Hebrew School Principal
- Michael Engel as Torah Blesser
- Tyson Bidner as Magbiah
- Phyllis Harris as Hebrew School Tea Lady
- Piper Sigel-Bruse as D'vorah
- Hannah Nemer as Sarah's Friend
- Rita Vassallo as Law Firm Secretary
- Warren Keith as Dick Dutton (voice)
- Neil Newman as Cantor
- Tim Russell as Detective #1
- Jim Lichtscheidl as Detective #2
- Wayne A. Evenson as Russell Krauss
- Scott Thompson Baker as Sci-Fi Movie Hero
- Landyn Banx as Physics Student (uncredited)
- Punnavith Koy as Physics Nerd (uncredited)
- Joel Thingvall as Bar Mitzvah Guest (uncredited)
- Amanda Day as Physics Student (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 21% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 3
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 1 | 55 | 332 |
| 2 to 2 | 10 | 90 |
| 3 to 3 | 11 | 250 |
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, 10 are women's.
76 lines from women, 672 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 28 men in the cast. 4 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 948.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 103 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 6% of the words (783), men 94% (11,745). Women have 10% 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
2
Two men
50
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Written by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Produced by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Jess Gonchor (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman), Rachel Tenner (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 14 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
5 women, 5 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 8 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sari Lennick 34
Men
Aaron Wolff 15, Michael Stuhlbarg 41, Peter Breitmayer 44, Richard Kind 52, Fred Melamed 53
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $7 million
- Box office
- $31.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 3 scenes and 948 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
