Fails the Bechdel test
Barton Fink
1991. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
In the wake of his early but undeniable theatrical success in Broadway, the idealistic author of the proletariat and self-pitying 1940s New York playwright, Barton Fink, finds himself lured to dazzling Hollywood to write scripts for eccentric Jack Lipnick's Capitol Pictures. But, instead of writing a story pivoting around the common man, Fink's first screenplay turns out to be a Wallace Beery wrestling movie, and, before he knows it, he develops a severe case of writer's block. Now, holed up in the seedy, run-down Hotel Earle, before his silent Underwood typewriter, Barton comes to realise that his only hope to meet the deadline is to take inspiration from the burly insurance salesman living next door, Charlie Meadows, and the unassuming secretary, Audrey Taylor. In the meantime, the suffocating stranglehold of artistic bankruptcy tightens. Does self-destructive Barton Fink have the stomach for confronting Hollywood's bitter reality?
- Released
- 21 Aug 1991
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 19 wins & 29 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Barton 273 lines, man
- Charlie 146 lines, man
- Audrey 45 lines, woman
- Lipnik 45 lines, man
- Mayhew 36 lines, man
- Mastrionotti 34 lines, man
- Deutsch 32 lines, man
- Geisler 31 lines, man
- Garland 22 lines, man
- Clerk 14 lines
Full cast, 32 people
- John Turturro as Barton Fink
- John Goodman as Charlie Meadows
- Judy Davis as Audrey Taylor
- Michael Lerner as Jack Lipnick
- John Mahoney as W.P. Mayhew
- Tony Shalhoub as Ben Geisler
- Jon Polito as Lou Breeze
- Steve Buscemi as Chet
- David Warrilow as Garland Stanford
- Richard Portnow as Detective Mastrionotti
- Christopher Murney as Detective Deutsch
- I.M. Hobson as Derek
- Meagen Fay as Poppy Carnahan
- Lance Davis as Richard St. Claire
- Harry Bugin as Pete
- Anthony Gordon as Maitre D'
- Jack Denbo as Stagehand
- Max Grodénchik as Clapper Boy
- Robert Beecher as Referee
- Darwyn Swalve as Wrestler
- Gayle Vance as Geisler's Secretary
- Johnny Judkins as Sailor
- Jana Marie Hupp as USO Girl
- Isabelle Townsend as Beauty
- William Preston Robertson as Voice (voice)
- Mamie Jean Calvert as Background (uncredited)
- Frances McDormand as Stage Actress (voice) (uncredited)
- Bubba Dean Rambo as Banquet Dancer (uncredited)
- Barry Sonnenfeld as Page Calling for Barton Fink (uncredited)
- Vincent Tumeo as Dancer (uncredited)
- William H. Macy as Navy Sailor (uncredited)
- Joe James as Mailman (voice)(uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 2
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 | 511 |
| 2 to 2 | 6 | 182 |
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, 8 are women's.
61 lines from women, 693 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 23 men in the cast. 3 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 783.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 187 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 (589), men 94% (9,338). Women have 8% 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
0
Two men
25
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 14% 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
- Ethan Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Richard Hornung (man)
- Cast by
- John S. Lyons (man), Donna Isaacson (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 11 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 7 men
-
Directing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Judy Davis 36
Men
Steve Buscemi 33, John Turturro 34, Tony Shalhoub 37, John Goodman 39, Jon Polito 40, Richard Portnow 44, Michael Lerner 50, John Mahoney 51, David Warrilow 56
Exhibit G: the money
It made 68% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $9 million
- Box office
- $6.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 2 scenes and 783 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
