Fails the Bechdel test

Anonymous

Name: Anonymous
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by Roland Emmerich, written by John Orloff.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
19 women characters. 8 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

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

The film

London around 1600: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is an educated man with a closet full of secretly written plays. As a member of the aristocracy, he cannot have his works performed publicly in Elizabethan England. The playwright Ben Jonson is supposed to take over - for a fee and under his own name. Jonson agrees and also relies on the uncouth actor William Shakespeare. Meanwhile, Edward learns of a plot against the queen: her most important advisor, William Cecil, wants to install the Scottish King James of the House of Stuart as Elizabeth's successor - behind her back. Edward himself was banished from court many years ago after an affair with Elizabeth. Through his plays, performed by Ben Jonson and his fellow actors, he wants to make himself noticed, influence politics, and prevent a bloody conflict. But he underestimates his opponents, William Cecil and his son, in whose house he was raised as a young man.

Released: 28 Oct 2011
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 50 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 12 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Oxford 97 lines, man
Jonson 85 lines, man
William Cecil 78 lines, man
Shakespeare 57 lines, man
Elizabeth 55 lines, woman
Young Oxford 48 lines, man
Robert Cecil 42 lines, man
Southampton 37 lines, man
Young Elizabeth 36 lines, woman
Essex 30 lines, man

Full cast, 77 people

Jamie Campbell Bower as Young Earl of Oxford
Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere
David Thewlis as William Cecil
Joely Richardson as Princess Elizabeth Tudor
Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I
Sebastian Armesto as Ben Jonson
Rafe Spall as William Shakespeare
Edward Hogg as Robert Cecil
Xavier Samuel as Earl of Southampton
Sam Reid as Earl of Essex
Paolo De Vita as Francesco
Trystan Gravelle as Christopher Marlowe
Robert Emms as Thomas Dekker
Tony Way as Thomas Nashe
Julian Bleach as Captain Richard Pole
Derek Jacobi as Prologue
Alex Hassell as Spencer
James Garnon as John Heminge
Mark Rylance as Condell
Jasper Britton as Pope
Ned Dennehy as Interrogator
John Keogh as Philip Henslowe
Lloyd Hutchinson as Richard Burbage
Vicky Krieps as Bessie Vavasour
Helen Baxendale as Anne De Vere
Paula Schramm as Bridget De Vere
Amy Kwolek as Young Anne De Vere
Luke Thomas Taylor as Boy Earl of Oxford
Isaiah Michalski as Boy Robert Cecil
Timo Huber as Boy Earl of Southampton
Richard Durden as Archbishop
Shaun Lawton as Footman
Detlef Bothe as John De Vere
James Clyde as King James I
Christian Sengewald as Cecil's Spy Servant
Jean-Loup Fourure as Monsieur Beaulieu
Viktoria Gabrysch as Buxom Lady
Axel Sichrovsky as Essex General
Katrin Pollitt as Lady-in-Waiting
Patricia Grove as Lady-in-Waiting
Laura Lo Zito as Selling Maid
Gode Benedix as Groundling
Nic Romm as Usher
Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Bear Baiter
Patrick Diemling as Oxford's Servant
Patrick Heyn as Oxford's Doctor
Nino Sandow as Stage Manager (New York)
Craig Salisbury as Dwarf / Puck
Rainer Guldener as Quince
Trystan Pütter as Bottom
André Kaczmarczyk as Titania
Jonas Hämmerle as Child Oberon
Mike Maas as Pole's Commander
Christian Leonard as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Christian Banzhaf as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Victoria Calero as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Martin Engler as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Alfred Hartung as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Oliver Kube as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Christian Ludwig as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Oliver Rickenbacher as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Claudius von Stolzmann as Stage Player: Shakespeare Company
Tjadke Biallowons as Dancer
Dafne-Maria Fielder as Dancer
Alexander Flache as Dancer
Antonia Gerke as Dancer
Sophie Hichert as Dancer
Vera Kreyer as Dancer
Stefanie Lanius as Dancer
Urban Luig as Dancer
Jasmin Mehling as Dancer
Elisabeth Milarch as Dancer
Robert Munzinger as Dancer
Benjamin Plath as Dancer
Erik Studte as Dancer
Johann Hakob Wurster as Dancer
Steffi Sattler as First Lady to King James I (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 178

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	0
5 to 8	0	7
9 to 12	0	4
13 to 16	2	52
17 to 20	0	34
21 to 24	9	14
25 to 28	11	20
29 to 32	1	58
33 to 36	0	11
37 to 40	9	34
41 to 44	0	7
45 to 48	0	0
49 to 52	10	29
53 to 56	6	12
57 to 60	4	4
61 to 64	8	22
65 to 68	0	1
69 to 72	0	15
73 to 76	6	25
77 to 80	0	21
81 to 84	0	35
85 to 88	0	14
89 to 92	4	3
93 to 96	2	4
97 to 100	7	31
101 to 104	0	23
105 to 108	2	2
109 to 112	2	15
113 to 116	3	9
117 to 120	13	14
121 to 124	1	13
125 to 128	0	7
129 to 132	0	1
133 to 136	0	2
137 to 140	0	10
141 to 144	0	1
145 to 148	1	9
149 to 152	1	3
153 to 156	2	14
157 to 160	13	13
161 to 164	1	9
165 to 168	4	17
169 to 172	0	12
173 to 176	0	2
177 to 178	0	5

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, 16 are women's.

122 lines from women, 638 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

19 women and 58 men in the cast. 8 women and 30 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 29 of 776. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 84 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 13% of the words (1,288), men 87% (8,828). Women have 16% 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

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Roland Emmerich (man)
Written by: John Orloff (man)
Produced by: Roland Emmerich (man), Robert Leger (man), Larry Franco (man)
Shot by: Anna Foerster (woman)
Edited by: Peter R. Adam (man)
Music by: Thomas Wander (man), Harald Kloser (man)
Production design by: Sebastian T. Krawinkel (man)
Costumes by: Lisy Christl (woman)
Cast by: Lissy Holm (woman), Leo Davis (woman)

The crew, department by department

Production

5 women, 11 men
Art

1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
Sound

0 women, 4 men
Costume & Make-Up

2 women, 1 men
Directing

1 women, 1 men
Camera

1 women, 0 men
Other crew

0 women, 1 men
Editing

0 women, 1 men

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 60 on average. Men: 32 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Joely Richardson 46, Vanessa Redgrave 74

Men

Jamie Campbell Bower 22, Sam Reid 24, Xavier Samuel 27, Rafe Spall 28, Sebastian Armesto 29, Edward Hogg 32, Rhys Ifans 44, David Thewlis 48

Exhibit G: the money

It made 51% of what it cost.

Budget: $30 million
Box office: $15.4 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 178 scenes and 776 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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