Passes the Bechdel test
Big Eyes
2014. Directed by Tim Burton, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
29 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 123. -
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
In San Francisco in the 1950s, Margaret was a woman trying to make it on her own after leaving her husband with only her daughter and her paintings. While struggling to make an impact with her drawings of children with big eyes, she meets gregarious ladies' man and fellow painter Walter Keane in a park. The two quickly become a pair with outgoing Walter selling their paintings and quiet Margaret holed up at home painting even more children with big eyes, but Walter's actually selling her paintings as his own. A clash of financial success and critical failure soon sends Margaret reeling in her life of lies. With Walter still living the high life, Margaret's going to have to try making it on her own again and reclaiming her name and her paintings.
- Released
- 25 Dec 2014
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 62 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards. 3 wins & 18 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Walter 293 lines, man
- Margaret 212 lines, woman
- Jane 36 lines, woman
- Dee-Ann 31 lines, woman
- Judge 18 lines, man
- Ruben 17 lines, man
- Dick 15 lines, man
- Banducci 11 lines, man
- Lily 10 lines, woman
- Canaday 9 lines, man
Full cast, 66 people
- Amy Adams as Margaret Keane
- Christoph Waltz as Walter Keane
- Danny Huston as Dick Nolan
- Jon Polito as Enrico Banducci
- Krysten Ritter as Dee-Ann
- Jason Schwartzman as Ruben
- Terence Stamp as John Canaday
- Madeleine Arthur as Older Jane
- Delaney Raye as Young Jane
- James Saito as Judge
- Farryn VanHumbeck as Lily
- Guido Furlani as Dino Olivetti
- Elisabetta Fantone as Olivetti Girl
- Emily Maddison as 2nd Olivetti Girl
- Brent Chapman as Factory Boss
- Gabe Khouth as Dad at Art Show
- Dylan Kingwell as Boy at Art Show
- Peter Kelamis as Real Estate Guy
- Deni DeLory as Fancy Lady
- Desiree Zurowski as Tipsy Lady
- Vincent Gale as Tipsy Man
- Fred Keating as Priest
- Byron Bertram as Bathroom Man
- Heather Doerksen as Gossipy Woman #1
- Eliza Norbury as Gossipy Woman #2
- Ryan Beil as Nosy Gallery Guy
- Frenchy Gagne as Henri the Maitre'd
- Fiona Vroom as Gallery Assistant
- Jill Morrison as Gallery Patron
- Leela Savasta as Hippie Chick
- Linda Sato as Jehovah's Witness #1
- Traci Toguchi as Jehovah's Witness #2
- Stephanie Bennett as Coed #1
- Andrea Bucko as Coed #2
- Emily Fonda as Sexy Girl
- Aaron Craven as Early Buyer
- Lear Howard as Proper Woman
- Heather Ireland as Proper Woman
- Linda Marr as Proper Woman
- Doreen McKenzie as Proper Woman
- Elizabeth Urrea as Proper Woman
- Kari-Ann Wood as Female Art Gallery Attendee
- Dale Wolfe as TV Host
- Patricia Mayen-Salazar as Fan #1
- Tony Alcantar as Fan #2
- Darren Dolynski as Snobby Artist #1
- David Milchard as Snobby Artist #2
- Andrew Airlie as Rich Man
- Forbes Angus as Civic Leader
- Michael Kopsa as NY Society Man
- Alan MacFarlane as Society Man #1
- Thomas Potter as Society Man #2
- Colleen Winton as Mrs. Teasdale
- Pomaika'i Brown as Radio DJ
- Dan Cooke as Reporter #1
- L.G. Michael Brown as Reporter #2
- Barclay Hope as Gannett Lawyer
- Mia Adams as Autograph Seeker
- Michael St. John Smith as Margaret's Lawyer
- Timothy Van Cleave as Cal Tjader
- Eric Keenleyside as Gannett Lawyer #2
- Greg Kean as Gannett Lawyer #3
- Sean Campbell as Bailiff
- Julie Johnson as Hungry i Patron
- Britt Irvin as Hipster Lady
- Matthew Kevin Anderson as Hipster Man
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, 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 123
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 4 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 30 | 26 |
| 13 to 15 | 15 | 20 |
| 16 to 18 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 to 21 | 11 | 26 |
| 22 to 24 | 6 | 18 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 10 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 16 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 0 |
| 37 to 39 | 9 | 21 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 7 | 6 |
| 46 to 48 | 17 | 23 |
| 49 to 51 | 11 | 15 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 26 | 38 |
| 58 to 60 | 19 | 10 |
| 61 to 63 | 23 | 1 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 6 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 16 | 11 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 11 | 19 |
| 79 to 81 | 12 | 15 |
| 82 to 84 | 5 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 3 | 13 |
| 88 to 90 | 4 | 16 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 3 |
| 94 to 96 | 6 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 12 | 8 |
| 100 to 102 | 25 | 2 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 3 | 1 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 12 |
| 115 to 117 | 6 | 15 |
| 118 to 120 | 5 | 35 |
| 121 to 123 | 9 | 18 |
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.
DEE-ANN: Sugar, you made it! You're in North Beach! MARGARET: Deirdre, look at you! DEE-ANN: "Dee-Ann." MARGARET: "Dee-Ann"?!
MARGARET: Sweetie, could you stop fidgeting? JANE: Mother, after all this time, you MUST know what my face looks like. JANE: Hey! Your canvas is blank!
JANE: I remember when Momma painted that. MARGARET: Are you -- sure? That was a long time ago. JANE: Sure I'm sure! It was in our old apartment, and you had me sit on a stool in the kitchen --
JANE: No, Mother did! Look! I'm wearing my blue dress. MARGARET: L-lots of girls have that dress...
MARGARET: Rembrandt, shush! DEE-ANN: My God! I thought I misread the address. MARGARET: Yeah. That driveway is long. Honestly, I can't believe I live here. DEE-ANN: Whoa.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.
316 lines from women, 419 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
29 women and 36 men in the cast. 10 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 769.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 29 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 39% of the words (3,116), men 61% (4,947). Women have 43% 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
19
Two men
22
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 41% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tim Burton (man)
- Written by
- Larry Karaszewski (man), Scott Alexander (man)
- Produced by
- Lynette Howell Taylor (woman), Scott Alexander (man), Larry Karaszewski (man), Tim Burton (man)
- Shot by
- Bruno Delbonnel (man)
- Edited by
- Joseph C. Bond IV (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Rick Heinrichs (man)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman)
- Cast by
- Nicole Abellera Hallman (woman), Jeanne McCarthy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 15 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
9 women, 0 men, 13 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
6 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
7 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 57 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Madeleine Arthur 17, Krysten Ritter 33, Amy Adams 40
Men
Jason Schwartzman 34, Danny Huston 52, Christoph Waltz 58, James Saito 59, Jon Polito 63, Terence Stamp 76
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $10 million
- Box office
- $28.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 123 scenes and 769 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
