Passes the Bechdel test
Anna Karenina
2012. Directed by Joe Wright, written by Tom Stoppard and Lev Tolstoy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
30 women characters. 16 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 12 scenes out of 265. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
In 1874 Imperial Russia, aristocratic Anna Karenina travels from Saint Petersburg to Moscow to save the marriage of her brother Prince Oblonsky, who had had a love affair with his housemaid. Anna Karenina and her husband, Count Alexei Karenin, have a son but a cold marriage. Anna meets cavalry officer Count Vronsky at the train station and there's a mutual attraction. Soon she learns that Vronsky will propose to Kitty, the younger sister of her sister-in-law Dolly. Anna satisfactorily resolves her brother's infidelity case, and Kitty invites her to stay for the ball. However, Anna and Vronsky attract too much negative attention from the conservative community by dancing together too often. They end up having a love affair that leads Anna Karenina to a tragic fate.
- Released
- 07 Sep 2012
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 33 wins & 54 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Anna 222 lines, woman
- Vronsky 143 lines, man
- Levin 104 lines, man
- Karenin 90 lines, man
- Oblonsky 59 lines, man
- Kitty 43 lines, woman
- Betsy 25 lines, woman
- Dolly 23 lines, woman
- Time--Day 16 lines
- Nikolai 15 lines, man
Full cast, 125 people
- Keira Knightley as Anna Karenina
- Jude Law as Karenin
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Vronsky
- Matthew Macfadyen as Oblonsky
- Eric MacLennan as Matvey
- Kelly Macdonald as Dolly
- Alicia Vikander as Kitty
- Domhnall Gleeson as Levin
- Olivia Williams as Countess Vronsky
- Ruth Wilson as Princess Betsy Tverskoy
- Emily Watson as Countess Lydia Ivanova
- Michelle Dockery as Princess Myagkaya
- Raphaël Personnaz as Alexander Vronsky
- David Wilmot as Nikolai
- Emerald Fennell as Princess Merkalova
- Tannishtha Chatterjee as Masha
- Pip Torrens as Prince Shcherbatsky
- Susanne Lothar as Princess Shcherbatsky
- Alexandra Roach as Countess Nordston
- Holliday Grainger as Baroness
- Cara Delevingne as Princess Sorokina
- Bill Skarsgård as Makhotin
- Steve Evets as Theodore
- Theo Morrissey as Grisha Oblonsky
- Cecily Morrissey as Lili Oblonsky
- Freya Galpin as Masha Oblonsky
- Octavia Morrissey as Tanya Oblonsky
- Beatrice Morrissey as Vasya Oblonsky
- Marine Battier as Mlle. Roland
- Guro Nagelhus Schia as Annushka
- Aruhan Galieva as Aruhan
- Carl Grose as Korney
- Bryan Hands as Mikhail Slyudin
- Oskar McNamara as Serhoza
- Luke Newberry as Vasily Lukich
- Michael Shaeffer as Doorkeeper
- Steven Beard as Elderly Waiter
- Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Burisov
- Joseph Macnab as Guards Officer
- Nick Holder as Stationmaster
- Hera Hilmar as Varya
- Kenneth Collard as Prince Tverskoy
- Thomas Howes as Yashvin
- Kyle Soller as Korsunsky
- Max Bennett as Petritsky
- Buffy Davis as Agafia
- Sam Cox as Kapitonich
- Jude Monk McGowan as Tuskevitch
- Antony Byrne as Colonel Demin
- Giles King as Stremov
- Eros Vlahos as Boris
- Bodil Blain as Princess Sorokina Senior
- Jamie Beamish as Opera House Husband
- Shirley Henderson as Opera House Wife
- Arthur Nightingale as Oblonsky's Servant
- Gala Wesson as Kitchen Maid
- Sarine Sofair as Anna's Friend
- Conor McCarry as Young Peasant
- Martin Wimbush as Anna's Doctor
- James Northcote as Princess Betsy's Footman
- Duncan Wisbey as Shopkeeper
- Claire Greenway as Austrian Princess
- Mike Shepherd as Wheel Tapper
- Simon Muller as Opera House Manager
- Nikolai Lester as Piano Prodigy
- Tillie-Bett Grant as Baby Anya
- Navala Chaudhari as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Amber Doyle as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Damien Fournier as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Laura Neyskens as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Daniel Proietto as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Verjorn Sundby as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Jennifer White as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Paul Zivkovich as Ball Dancer & French Theatre Dancer
- Michael Barnes as Ball Dancer
- Anna Bjerre Larsen as Ball Dancer
- James Cousins as Ball Dancer
- Eva Dewaele as Ball Dancer
- Pia Driver as Ball Dancer
- Stephanie Elstob as Ball Dancer
- Thomas Herron as Ball Dancer
- Jennifer Essex as Ball Dancer
- Edward Lewis French as Ball Dancer
- Courtney Garratt as Ball Dancer
- Omar Gordon as Ball Dancer
- Fania Grigoriou as Ball Dancer
- Thomasin Gulgec as Ball Dancer
- Louise Michel Jackson as Ball Dancer
- Bless Klepcharek as Ball Dancer
- Jesse Kovarsky as Ball Dancer
- Marie Marinez as Ball Dancer
- Cameron McWilliam as Ball Dancer
- Michela Meazza as Ball Dancer
- Oliver Metzler as Ball Dancer
- Andrew Monaghan as Ball Dancer
- Ashley James Orwin as Ball Dancer
- Shintaro Oue as Ball Dancer
- Sonja Perreten as Ball Dancer
- Claire Piquemal as Ball Dancer
- Natascha Pire as Ball Dancer
- Linda Remahl as Ball Dancer
- Daria Reznikova as Ball Dancer
- Vala Runarsdottir as Ball Dancer
- Helder Seabra as Ball Dancer
- Aaron Sillis as Ball Dancer
- Rebecca Sutherland as Ball Dancer
- Ulrika Kinn Svensson as Ball Dancer
- Teerachai Thobumrung as Ball Dancer
- Aubert Vanderlinden as Ball Dancer
- Benjamin Warbis as Ball Dancer
- Lisa Adelle Welham as Ball Dancer
- Joanna Ruth Wenger as Ball Dancer
- Tegen Whyte as Ball Dancer
- Jorys Zwgarac as Ball Dancer
- Telman Guzhevsky as Opera Singer
- Allegra Giagu as Opera Singer
- Philip Firsov as Singing Russian Soldier
- Chris Foster as Singing Russian Soldier
- Jaroslav Gavrilov as Singing Russian Soldier
- Lukasz Hajduczenia as Singing Russian Soldier
- John Bradley as Austrian Prince (uncredited)
- Vicky McClure as Girl Harvesting (uncredited)
- Inga Leps as Gallery Guest (uncredited)
- Paul Ham as Michael (uncredited)
- George Montague as Singing Russian Soldier (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 265
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 6 | 4 | 4 |
| 7 to 12 | 3 | 6 |
| 13 to 18 | 7 | 8 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 40 |
| 25 to 30 | 16 | 2 |
| 31 to 36 | 7 | 45 |
| 37 to 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 to 48 | 10 | 6 |
| 49 to 54 | 32 | 8 |
| 55 to 60 | 21 | 20 |
| 61 to 66 | 10 | 17 |
| 67 to 72 | 2 | 2 |
| 73 to 78 | 4 | 11 |
| 79 to 84 | 3 | 6 |
| 85 to 90 | 15 | 6 |
| 91 to 96 | 16 | 13 |
| 97 to 102 | 9 | 8 |
| 103 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 114 | 13 | 21 |
| 115 to 120 | 29 | 39 |
| 121 to 126 | 13 | 18 |
| 127 to 132 | 13 | 13 |
| 133 to 138 | 1 | 16 |
| 139 to 144 | 2 | 7 |
| 145 to 150 | 14 | 16 |
| 151 to 156 | 19 | 35 |
| 157 to 162 | 6 | 5 |
| 163 to 168 | 9 | 11 |
| 169 to 174 | 4 | 5 |
| 175 to 180 | 15 | 13 |
| 181 to 186 | 5 | 8 |
| 187 to 192 | 6 | 10 |
| 193 to 198 | 1 | 3 |
| 199 to 204 | 4 | 1 |
| 205 to 210 | 2 | 5 |
| 211 to 216 | 4 | 3 |
| 217 to 222 | 19 | 14 |
| 223 to 228 | 11 | 7 |
| 229 to 234 | 16 | 7 |
| 235 to 240 | 24 | 20 |
| 241 to 246 | 4 | 2 |
| 247 to 252 | 6 | 1 |
| 253 to 258 | 1 | 6 |
| 259 to 264 | 4 | 3 |
| 265 to 265 | 0 | 0 |
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.
ANNA: Au revoir, Countess. COUNTESS VRONSKY: Au revoir, my dear. Let me kiss your pretty face.
ANNA: Well, that's the end of that. KITTY: Will you stay for the Bobrishchev's ball, Anna? ANNA: Oh . . . I always feel dull at a ball. KITTY: How can you ever be dull?
ANNA: I know why you want me to come. You want everyone to be there because you're sure it's going to be your night. KITTY: How did you know? ANNA: I know everything. ANNA: Oh, to be your age again . . . surrounded by that blue mist, like mist on the mountains
KITTY: No, ask Anna. ANNA: No . . . I don't . . . ANNA: Come on then.
ANNA: Then, for Kitty's sake. COUNTESS NORDSTON: You're not dancing the mazurka? I won't have it.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 45 are women's.
404 lines from women, 492 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
30 women and 37 men in the cast. 16 women and 28 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 45% of the words (4,355), men 55% (5,351).
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
29
Two men
45
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joe Wright (man)
- Written by
- Tom Stoppard (man)
- From the novel by
- Leo Tolstoy (man)
- Produced by
- Tim Bevan (man), Eric Fellner (man), Paul Webster (man)
- Shot by
- Seamus McGarvey (man)
- Edited by
- Melanie Oliver (woman)
- Music by
- Dario Marianelli (man)
- Production design by
- Sarah Greenwood (woman)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline Durran (woman)
- Cast by
- Dixie Chassay (woman), Jina Jay (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 14 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alicia Vikander 23, Keira Knightley 27, Ruth Wilson 30, Kelly Macdonald 36, Olivia Williams 44
Men
Aaron Taylor-Johnson 22, Domhnall Gleeson 29, Matthew Macfadyen 37, Jude Law 39
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40.6 million
- Box office
- $68.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 265 scenes and 985 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
