Passes the Bechdel test
Belle
2013. Directed by Amma Asante, written by Misan Sagay.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 125. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
This movie was inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate biracial daughter of Royal Navy Captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode). Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson), Belle's lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar's son bent on change, who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield's role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England.
- Released
- 13 Jun 2014
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 64 / 100
- Awards
- 14 wins & 32 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dido 195 lines, woman
- Lord Mansfield 133 lines, man
- John 128 lines, man
- Elizabeth 87 lines, woman
- Lady Mansfield 76 lines, woman
- Lady Ashford 39 lines, woman
- Lady Mary 32 lines, woman
- Oliver 31 lines, man
- James 16 lines, man
- Lord Ashford 11 lines, man
Full cast, 23 people
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido Elizabeth Belle
- Tom Wilkinson as Lord Mansfield
- Sam Reid as John Davinier
- Sarah Gadon as Lady Elizabeth Murray
- Emily Watson as Lady Mansfield
- Miranda Richardson as Lady Ashford
- Penelope Wilton as Lady Mary Murray
- Tom Felton as James Ashford
- James Norton as Oliver Ashford
- Matthew Goode as Captain Sir John Lindsay
- Alex Jennings as Lord Ashford
- James Northcote as Mr. Vaughn
- Alan McKenna as Harry
- Lauren Julien-Box as Young Dido
- Cara Jenkins as Young Elizabeth
- Andrew Woodall as Lord Mayor
- Timothy Walker as Wimbridge
- David Gant as Zoffany
- Susan Brown as Baroness Vernon
- Rupert Wickham as Reverend Davinier
- Natasha Williams as Poor Woman
- Daniel Wilde as Gentleman
- Bethan Mary-James as Mabel
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 125
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 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 14 | 24 |
| 10 to 12 | 9 | 4 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 4 | 4 |
| 19 to 21 | 22 | 5 |
| 22 to 24 | 17 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 25 | 29 |
| 28 to 30 | 10 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 25 | 41 |
| 34 to 36 | 10 | 16 |
| 37 to 39 | 14 | 9 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 1 |
| 46 to 48 | 7 | 7 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 13 |
| 52 to 54 | 6 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 20 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 49 | 35 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 7 | 17 |
| 70 to 72 | 27 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 28 | 30 |
| 82 to 84 | 36 | 12 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 34 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 14 | 13 |
| 106 to 108 | 18 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 1 | 0 |
| 115 to 117 | 6 | 13 |
| 118 to 120 | 4 | 15 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 2 |
| 124 to 125 | 6 | 25 |
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.
DIDO: Bette! No...no surprises Bette! LADY MARY: Girls! Will you refrain from shrieking like the...bless-ed French!
LADY MARY: We shall receive visitors for dinner. The two girls exchange a glance and whisper. ELIZABETH: Visitors? Who ever bothers to visit us here? DIDO: Or leave... except the dead! LADY MARY: Once again, Dido?
LADY ASHFORD: This will be most interesting! LADY MARY: She has never played in company! LADY ASHFORD: She is...most accomplished. LADY MANSFIELD: Hers was a most diligent governess.
DIDO: Papaa has never taken a pupil, you realise? ELIZABETH: Someone to keep you company while you take Papaa's dictation, Dido. Truth is, there have been more of your sex at Kenwood this week, than I'…
DIDO: Papaa. ELIZABETH: There you are! DIDO is frozen, says nothing. ELIZABETH stares from the doorway - why does DIDO look so strange? ELIZABETH: We are requested. You - drawing room. I, relegated to the ladies' Palour!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.
449 lines from women, 361 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 12 men in the cast. 8 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 8 of 816.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 21 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 49% of the words (5,288), men 51% (5,493). Women have 55% 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
48
Two men
22
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 48% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Amma Asante (woman)
- Written by
- Misan Sagay (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Damian Jones (man)
- Shot by
- Ben Smithard (man)
- Edited by
- Pia Di Ciaula (woman), Victoria Boydell (woman)
- Music by
- Rachel Portman (woman)
- Production design by
- Simon Bowles (man)
- Costumes by
- Anushia Nieradzik (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Toby Whale (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 0 men, 16 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 5 men, 14 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 8 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 3 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Editing
4 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sarah Gadon 26, Gugu Mbatha-Raw 30, Emily Watson 46, Miranda Richardson 55, Penelope Wilton 66
Men
Tom Felton 25, Sam Reid 26, James Norton 27, Matthew Goode 35, Tom Wilkinson 65
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10.9 million
- Box office
- $16.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 125 scenes and 816 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
