Fails the Bechdel test
Batman Begins
2005. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Bob Kane and David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
17 women characters. 6 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 1 out of 3.
The film
When his parents are killed, billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne relocates to Asia, where he is mentored by Henri Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul in how to fight evil. When learning about the plan to wipe out evil in Gotham City by Ducard, Bruce prevents this plan from getting any further and heads back to his home. Back in his original surroundings, Bruce adopts the image of a bat to strike fear into the criminals and the corrupt as the icon known as "Batman". But it doesn't stay quiet for long.
- Released
- 15 Jun 2005
- Genres
- Crime
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 15 wins & 79 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Wayne 180 lines, man
- Rachel 101 lines, woman
- Alfred 73 lines, man
- Batman 71 lines, man
- Gordon 67 lines, man
- Ducard 58 lines, man
- Crane 44 lines, man
- Fox 43 lines, man
- Bruce 34 lines, man
- Earle 34 lines, man
Full cast, 110 people
- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman
- Michael Caine as Alfred
- Liam Neeson as Ducard
- Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes
- Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon
- Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane
- Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone
- Rutger Hauer as Earle
- Ken Watanabe as Ra's al Ghul
- Mark Boone Junior as Flass
- Linus Roache as Thomas Wayne
- Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
- Larry Holden as Finch
- Gerard Murphy as Judge Faden
- Colin McFarlane as Loeb
- Sara Stewart as Martha Wayne
- Gus Lewis as Bruce Wayne (Age 8)
- Richard Brake as Joe Chill
- Rade Šerbedžija as Homeless Man
- Emma Lockhart as Rachel Dawes (Age 8)
- Christine Adams as Jessica
- Catherine Porter as Blonde Female Reporter / Assassin
- John Nolan as Fredericks
- Karen David as Courthouse Reporter #1
- Jonathan D. Ellis as Courthouse Reporter #2
- Tamer Hassan as Faden's Limo Driver
- Ronan Leahy as Uniformed Policeman #1
- Vincent Wong as Old Asian Prisoner
- Tom Wu as Bhutanese Prison Guard #1
- Mark Chiu as Bhutanese Prison Guard #2
- Turbo Kong as Enormous Prisoner
- Stuart Yung Sai-kit as Chinese Police Officer
- Chike Chan as Chinese Police Officer
- Tenzin Clive Ball as Himalayan Child
- Tenzin Gyurme as Old Himalayan Man
- Jamie Cho as Stocky Chinese Man
- David Murray as Jumpy Thug
- John Kazek as Dock Thug #2
- Darragh Kelly as Dock Thug #3
- Patrick Nolan as Dock Cop #1
- Joseph Rye as Dock Cop #2
- Kwaku Ankomah as Dock Cop #3
- Jo Martin as Police Prison Official
- Charles Edwards as Wayne Enterprises Executive
- Lucy Russell as Female Restaurant Guest
- Timothy Deenihan as Male Restaurant Guest
- David Bedella as Maitre D
- Flavia Masetto as Restaurant Blonde #1
- Emily Steven-Daly as Restaurant Blonde #2
- Martin McDougall as Gotham Dock Employee
- Noah Lee Margetts as Arkham Thug #1
- Joe Hanley as Arkham Thug #2
- Karl Shiels as Arkham Thug #3
- Roger Griffiths as Arkham Uniformed Policeman
- Stephen Walters as Arkham Lunatic
- Richard Laing as Arkham Chase Cop
- Matt Miller as Gotham Car Cop #3
- Risteard Cooper as Captain Simonson
- Shane Rimmer as Older Gotham Water Board Technician
- Jeremy Theobald as Younger Gotham Water Board Technician
- Alexandra Bastedo as Gotham Society Dame
- Soo Hee Ding as Farmer
- Conn Horgan as Monorail Driver
- Phill Curr as Transit Cop
- Jack Gleeson as Little Boy
- John Judd as Narrows Bridge Cop
- Sarah Wateridge as Mrs. Dawes
- Charlie Kranz as Basement Club Manager
- Terry McMahon as Bad Swat Cop #1
- Cedric Young as Liquor Store Owner
- Tim Booth as Victor Zsaz
- Tom Nolan as Valet
- Leon Delroy Williams as Pedestrian
- Roger Yuan as Hazmat Technician
- Joe Sargent as Narrows Teenager #1
- Mel Taylor as Narrows Resident
- Ilyssa Fradin as Barbara Gordon
- Andrew Pleavin as Uniformed Policeman #2
- Jeff Christian as Driving Cop
- John Burke as Arkham Lunatic Cell Mate
- Earlene Bentley as Arkham Asylum Nurse
- Alex Moggridge as Arkham Asylum Orderly
- Jay Buozzi as Asian Man / Ra's al Ghul
- Jordan Shaw as African Boy In Rags
- Omar Mostafa as Falafel Stand Vendor
- Patrick Pond as Opera Performer #1 Faust (Bass)
- Poppy Tierney as Opera Performer #2 Margaret (Soprano)
- Rory Campbell as Opera Performer #3 Mefistofele (Tenor)
- Fabio Cardascia as Caterer
- Spencer Wilding as League of Shadows Warrior
- Mark Rhino Smith as League of Shadows Warrior
- Khan Bonfils as League of Shadows Warrior
- Dave Legeno as League of Shadows Warrior
- Ruben Halse as League of Shadows Warrior
- Rodney Ryan as League of Shadows Warrior
- Dominic Burgess as Narrows Cop
- Nadia Cameron-Blakey as Additional Restaurant Guest #1
- Mark Straker as Male Restaurant Guest #2
- T.J. Ramini as Crane Thug #1
- Kieran Hurley as Crane Thug #2
- Emmanuel Idowu as Narrows Teenager #2
- Jeff Tanner as Bridge Cop
- Mark Strange as League of Shadows Warrior (uncredited)
- Dean Alexandrou as League of Shadows Warrior (uncredited)
- Jonathan Patrick Foo as League of Shadows Warrior (uncredited)
- Joey Ansah as League of Shadows Warrior (uncredited)
- Adam Kirley as Steiss (uncredited)
- Rick Avery as Gotham Car Cop (uncredited)
- Philip Harvey as Victor Zsasz Attorney
- Jennifer A. Goodman as Police Officer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 7 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 324
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 7 | 5 | 2 |
| 8 to 14 | 0 | 35 |
| 15 to 21 | 0 | 26 |
| 22 to 28 | 2 | 22 |
| 29 to 35 | 0 | 38 |
| 36 to 42 | 0 | 20 |
| 43 to 49 | 12 | 14 |
| 50 to 56 | 7 | 32 |
| 57 to 63 | 0 | 34 |
| 64 to 70 | 0 | 22 |
| 71 to 77 | 0 | 3 |
| 78 to 84 | 3 | 20 |
| 85 to 91 | 2 | 38 |
| 92 to 98 | 1 | 43 |
| 99 to 105 | 0 | 37 |
| 106 to 112 | 0 | 15 |
| 113 to 119 | 0 | 11 |
| 120 to 126 | 0 | 7 |
| 127 to 133 | 8 | 28 |
| 134 to 140 | 0 | 32 |
| 141 to 147 | 5 | 35 |
| 148 to 154 | 0 | 38 |
| 155 to 161 | 22 | 22 |
| 162 to 168 | 6 | 9 |
| 169 to 175 | 0 | 28 |
| 176 to 182 | 0 | 8 |
| 183 to 189 | 0 | 9 |
| 190 to 196 | 0 | 7 |
| 197 to 203 | 0 | 3 |
| 204 to 210 | 2 | 2 |
| 211 to 217 | 0 | 2 |
| 218 to 224 | 0 | 2 |
| 225 to 231 | 0 | 1 |
| 232 to 238 | 0 | 3 |
| 239 to 245 | 0 | 4 |
| 246 to 252 | 12 | 21 |
| 253 to 259 | 5 | 41 |
| 260 to 266 | 3 | 16 |
| 267 to 273 | 2 | 10 |
| 274 to 280 | 0 | 3 |
| 281 to 287 | 2 | 9 |
| 288 to 294 | 1 | 1 |
| 295 to 301 | 4 | 6 |
| 302 to 308 | 0 | 4 |
| 309 to 315 | 0 | 13 |
| 316 to 322 | 3 | 13 |
| 323 to 324 | 7 | 30 |
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, 12 are women's.
114 lines from women, 819 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
17 women and 90 men in the cast. 6 women and 43 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 981.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,002), men 88% (7,169).
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
3
Two men
85
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Written by
- David S. Goyer (man), Christopher Nolan (man)
- Produced by
- Emma Thomas (woman), Larry Franco (man), Charles Roven (man), Lorne Orleans (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Wally Pfister (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Smith (man)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man), Hans Zimmer (man)
- Production design by
- Nathan Crowley (man)
- Costumes by
- Lindy Hemming (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man), Lucinda Syson (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
16 women, 125 men, 131 not listed
-
Visual Effects
11 women, 59 men, 184 not listed
-
Art
10 women, 35 men, 82 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 36 men, 22 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 18 men, 39 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 15 men, 26 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 7 men, 25 not listed
-
Lighting
2 women, 13 men, 24 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Katie Holmes 26
Men
Cillian Murphy 29, Christian Bale 31, Ken Watanabe 45, Gary Oldman 47, Mark Boone Junior 50, Liam Neeson 53, Tom Wilkinson 57, Rutger Hauer 61, Michael Caine 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $150 million
- Box office
- $374 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 324 scenes and 981 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
