Passes the Bechdel test
Basquiat
1996. Directed by Julian Schnabel, written by Lech Majewski and John F. Bowe and Julian Schnabel.
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 2 scenes out of 95. -
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
Basquiat tells the story of the meteoric rise of youthful artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Starting out as a street artist, living in Thompkins Square Park in a cardboard box, Basquiat becomes a star and a part of Andy Warhol's art world circle. But success has a price, and Basquiat pays with friendships, love, and eventually, his life.
- Released
- 09 Aug 1996
- Genres
- Biography, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 65 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Basquiat 273 lines, man
- Gina 63 lines, woman
- Rene 62 lines, man
- Andy Warhol 37 lines, man
- Benny 37 lines, man
- Albert Milo 25 lines, man
- Interviewer 25 lines, man
- Annina Nosei 23 lines, woman
- Mary Boone 12 lines, woman
- Bruno 10 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
- Jeffrey Wright as Jean Michel Basquiat
- Michael Wincott as Rene Ricard
- Benicio del Toro as Benny Dalmau
- Claire Forlani as Gina Cardinale
- David Bowie as Andy Warhol
- Dennis Hopper as Bruno Bischofberger
- Gary Oldman as Albert Milo
- Christopher Walken as The Interviewer
- Willem Dafoe as The Electrician
- Jean-Claude La Marre as Shenge
- Parker Posey as Mary Boone
- Elina Löwensohn as Annina Nosei
- Paul Bartel as Henry Geldzahler
- Courtney Love as Big Pink
- Tatum O'Neal as Cynthia Kruger
- Chuck Pfeiffer as Tom Kruger
- Rockets Redglare as Rockets
- Esther G. Schnabel as Esther Milo
- Jack Schnabel as Jack Milo
- Lola Schnabel as Jacqueline Milo
- Peter McGough as Peter McGough
- David McDermott as David McDermott
- Michael Chow as Mr. Chow
- Stella Schnabel as Stella
- Steven Randazzo as Maitre' d at Ballato's
- Michael Badalucco as Counterman at Deli
- Francis Dumaurier as Giorgio
- Joseph R. Gannascoli as Guard at Hospital
- Hope Clarke as Matilde
- Brian Wright as Young Jean Michel
- Tarmo Urb as Lech
- Denise Burse as Mary on TV
- Robert Alexander as Band Guy
- Vincent Laresca as Vincent
- Nemo Librizzi as Nemo
- Leonard Jackson as Jean Michel's Father
- Dave Shelley as Photographer
- Frederick Weller as Frank
- Rene Rivera as Juan
- Sam Rockwell as Thug
- Ron Brice as Thug
- William Seymour as Mr. Chow's Maitre' d
- Richard E. Butler as Medieval Villager
- Joe Glasco as Medieval Villager
- Steven Parenago as Medieval Villager
- Vladamir Parenago as Medieval Villager
- José Luis Ferrer as Medieval Villager
- Irene Kiss as Medieval Villager
- Richard the Ox as Medieval Villager
- Toomas Urb as Chef at Lech's Restaurant (uncredited)
- Vincent Gallo as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Linda Larkin as Fan (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 95
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 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 8 | 20 |
| 11 to 12 | 10 | 8 |
| 13 to 14 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 to 16 | 1 | 19 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 3 | 2 |
| 21 to 22 | 5 | 11 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 25 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 17 |
| 27 to 28 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 32 | 5 | 9 |
| 33 to 34 | 10 | 6 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 18 |
| 37 to 38 | 8 | 26 |
| 39 to 40 | 2 | 3 |
| 41 to 42 | 20 | 16 |
| 43 to 44 | 1 | 0 |
| 45 to 46 | 1 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 10 | 40 |
| 49 to 50 | 5 | 10 |
| 51 to 52 | 3 | 3 |
| 53 to 54 | 5 | 45 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 1 |
| 57 to 58 | 1 | 33 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 51 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 11 |
| 63 to 64 | 8 | 23 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 6 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 24 |
| 71 to 72 | 2 | 15 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 1 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 24 |
| 77 to 78 | 12 | 23 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 4 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 0 |
| 83 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 86 | 0 | 7 |
| 87 to 88 | 0 | 6 |
| 89 to 90 | 0 | 5 |
| 91 to 92 | 0 | 1 |
| 93 to 94 | 0 | 3 |
| 95 to 95 | 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.
ANNINA NOSEI: No thanks. But I'd like one of these paintings. GINA: Who's that?
ANNINA NOSEI: How about right now? GINA: Be ready in a minute!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 19 are women's.
122 lines from women, 526 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 30 men in the cast. 7 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 741.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 73 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 16% of the words (1,009), men 84% (5,232). Women have 19% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
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
3
Two men
14
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Julian Schnabel (man)
- Written by
- Julian Schnabel (man), John F. Bowe (man)
- Story by
- Lech Majewski (man)
- Produced by
- Randy Ostrow (man), Sigurjón Sighvatsson (man), Jon Kilik (man)
- Shot by
- Ron Fortunato (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Berenbaum (man)
- Music by
- John Cale (man), Julian Schnabel (man)
- Production design by
- Dan Leigh (man)
- Costumes by
- John Dunn (man)
- Cast by
- Georgianne Walken (woman), Sheila Jaffe (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 24 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Claire Forlani 24
Men
Benicio del Toro 29, Jeffrey Wright 30, Jean-Claude La Marre 30, Michael Wincott 38, Gary Oldman 38, Willem Dafoe 41, David Bowie 49, Christopher Walken 53, Dennis Hopper 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 92% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $3.3 million
- Box office
- $3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 95 scenes and 741 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
