Fails the Bechdel test

Before Sunrise

Name: Before Sunrise
Released: 1995

1995. Directed by Richard Linklater, written by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan.

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 0 out of 3.

The film

American tourist Jesse and French student Celine meet by chance on the train from Budapest to Vienna. Sensing that they are developing a connection, Jesse asks Celine to spend the day with him in Vienna, and she agrees. So they pass the time before his scheduled flight the next morning together. How do two perfect strangers connect so intimately over the course of a single day? What is that special thing that bonds two people so strongly? As their bond turns to love, what will happen to them the next morning when Jesse flies away?

Released: 27 Jan 1995
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.1 / 10
Metascore: 79 / 100
Awards: 2 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Celine 187 lines, woman
Jesse 180 lines, man
Tex 14 lines, man
Karl 10 lines, man
Rose Peddler 8 lines
Homeless Poet 5 lines, man
Husband 2 lines, man
Liz 2 lines
Wife 2 lines, woman
Both 1 lines

Full cast, 30 people

Ethan Hawke as Jesse
Julie Delpy as Céline
Andrea Eckert as Wife on Train
Hanno Pöschl as Husband on Train
Karl Bruckschwaiger as Guy on Bridge
Tex Rubinowitz as Guy on Bridge
Erni Mangold as Palm Reader
Dominik Castell as Street Poet
Haymon Maria Buttinger as Bartender
Harold Waiglein as Guitarist in Club
Bilge Jeschim as Belly Dancer
Kurti as Percussionist
Hans Weingartner as Cafe Patron
Liese Lyon as Cafe Patron
Peter Ily Huemer as Cafe Patron
Otto Reiter as Cafe Patron
Hubert Fabian Kulterer as Cafe Patron
Branko Andrić 'Andrla' as Cafe Patron
Constanze Schweiger as Cafe Patron
John Sloss as Cafe Patron
Alexandra Seibel as Cafe Patron
Georg Schöllhammer as Cafe Patron
Christian Ankowitsch as Cafe Patron
Wilbirg Reiter as Cafe Patron
Barbara Klebel as Musician on Boat
Wolfgang Staribacher as Musician on Boat
Wolfgang Glüxam as Harpsichord Player
Adam Goldberg as Man Sleeping on Train (uncredited)
Richard Linklater as Man in Shonen Knife T-Shirt Playing Foosball (uncredited)
Paul Poet as Guy in Bar (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 43

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	0	0
2 to 2	12	13
3 to 3	7	6
4 to 4	6	6
5 to 5	0	0
6 to 6	5	5
7 to 7	0	0
8 to 8	0	0
9 to 9	3	3
10 to 10	6	36
11 to 11	3	2
12 to 12	0	0
13 to 13	12	13
14 to 14	4	3
15 to 15	0	0
16 to 16	5	3
17 to 17	0	0
18 to 18	4	4
19 to 19	7	5
20 to 20	5	6
21 to 21	3	1
22 to 22	0	0
23 to 23	2	3
24 to 24	0	0
25 to 25	15	18
26 to 26	8	6
27 to 27	0	0
28 to 28	0	0
29 to 29	2	2
30 to 30	0	0
31 to 31	11	9
32 to 32	5	4
33 to 33	6	5
34 to 34	3	3
35 to 35	3	3
36 to 36	13	12
37 to 37	6	5
38 to 38	0	0
39 to 39	12	14
40 to 40	5	6
41 to 41	2	2
42 to 42	14	13
43 to 43	0	0

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, 47 are women's.

189 lines from women, 211 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

4 women and 14 men in the cast. 1 women and 2 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 17 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 50% of the words (4,115), men 50% (4,132). Women have 47% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Richard Linklater (man)
Written by: Kim Krizan (woman), Richard Linklater (man)
Produced by: Anne Walker-McBay (woman)
Shot by: Lee Daniel (man)
Edited by: Sandra Adair (woman), Sheri Galloway (gender not listed)
Music by: Fred Frith (man)
Production design by: Florian Reichmann (man)
Costumes by: Florentina Welley (gender not listed)
Cast by: Alycia Aumuller (gender not listed), Judy Henderson (woman), Lisa Pantone (gender not listed)