Passes the Bechdel test
Big Fish
2004. Directed by Tim Burton, written by Daniel Wallace and John August.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 193. -
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 1 out of 3.
The film
United Press International journalist Will Bloom and his French freelance photojournalist wife Josephine Bloom, who is pregnant with their first child, leave their Paris base to return to Will's hometown of Ashton, Alabama on the news that his father, Edward Bloom, stricken with cancer, will soon die, he being taken off chemotherapy treatment. Although connected indirectly through Will's mother/Edward's wife, Sandra Bloom, Will has been estranged from his father for three years since his and Josephine's wedding. Will's issue with his father is the fanciful tales Edward has told of his life all his life, not only to Will but the whole world. As a child when Edward was largely absent as a traveling salesman, Will believed those stories, but now realizes that he does not know his father, who, as he continues to tell these stories, he will never get to know unless Edward comes clean with the truth before he dies. On the brink of his own family life beginning, Will does not want to be the kind of father Edward has been to him. One of those stories from Edward's childhood - that he saw his own death in the glass eye of a witch - led to him embracing life since he would not have to fear death knowing when and how it would eventually come. The question is whether Will will be able to reconcile Edward's stories against his real life, either directly from Edward before he dies and/or from other sources, and thus allow Will to come to a new understanding of himself and his life, past, present and future.
- Released
- 09 Jan 2004
- Genres
- Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 69 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Edward 293 lines, man
- Will 141 lines, man
- Sandra 59 lines, woman
- Jenny 58 lines, woman
- Josephine 46 lines, woman
- Amos 24 lines, man
- Norther Winslow 16 lines, man
- Dr. Bennett 15 lines, man
- Beamen 14 lines, man
- Don Price 14 lines, man
Full cast, 62 people
- Ewan McGregor as Ed Bloom (young)
- Albert Finney as Ed Bloom (senior)
- Billy Crudup as Will Bloom
- Jessica Lange as Sandra Bloom (senior)
- Helena Bonham Carter as Jenny (young & senior) / The Witch
- Alison Lohman as Sandra Bloom (young)
- Robert Guillaume as Dr. Bennett (senior)
- Marion Cotillard as Josephine
- Matthew McGrory as Karl the Giant
- David Denman as Don Price (age 18-22)
- Missi Pyle as Mildred
- Loudon Wainwright III as Beamen
- Ada Tai as Ping
- Arlene Tai as Jing
- Steve Buscemi as Norther Winslow
- Danny DeVito as Amos Calloway
- Deep Roy as Mr. Soggybottom
- Perry Walston as Ed Bloom (age 10)
- Hailey Anne Nelson as Jenny (age 8)
- Grayson Stone as Will Bloom (age 6-8)
- R. Keith Harris as Ed's Father
- Karla Droege as Ed's Mother
- Zac Gardner as Zacky Price (age 10)
- John Lowell as Don Price (age 12)
- Darrell Vanterpool as Wilbur (age 10)
- Miley Cyrus as Ruthie (age 8)
- Joseph Humphrey as Little Brave
- Morgan Grace Jarrett as Will's Date
- Sallie Hedrick as Pretty Girl
- Charles McLawhorn as Mayor
- Frank Hoyt Taylor as Sharecropper
- Savanna James as Little Girl
- Billy Redden as Banjo Man
- James DeForest Parker as Shotgun Toter
- Russell Hodgkinson as Some Farmer
- Don Young as Shephard
- Jayne Morgan as Townsperson
- David Ramsey as Townsperson
- Greg Hohn as Townsperson
- Zach Hanner as Cashier
- George McArthur as Colossus
- Jeff Campbell as Jump Leader
- Lawrence Sykkmon as Chinese Emcee
- Bonnie Johnson as Teller Woman
- Howard Houston Jr. as Piano Student
- Joanne Pankow as Heavy Set Nurse
- Trevor Gagnon as Will's son
- Jacob Radford as Kid
- Karlos Walkes as Dr. Bennett (young)
- Cathy Berry as Lobster Woman
- John Fugate as Side Show Barker
- Daniel Wallace as Econ Professor
- Metz Duites as Ventriloquist
- Vincent J. Ybiernas as Asian Officer
- Barry C. Harvard as Chicken Plant Operator
- Edward Aldag as Municipal Dump Owner
- Michael Garnet Stewart as Auctioneer
- C. Alan Rawlins Sr. as Pretty Man
- Jake Brake as Old Zacky
- Bevin Kaye as River Woman
- L.C. Holt as Spectre Citizen (uncredited)
- Will Thomas as Spectre Citizen (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 193
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 5 | 2 | 17 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 14 |
| 11 to 15 | 7 | 11 |
| 16 to 20 | 2 | 29 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 5 |
| 26 to 30 | 15 | 19 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 47 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 2 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 to 50 | 1 | 42 |
| 51 to 55 | 2 | 20 |
| 56 to 60 | 6 | 23 |
| 61 to 65 | 11 | 25 |
| 66 to 70 | 22 | 31 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 31 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 7 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 13 |
| 86 to 90 | 4 | 9 |
| 91 to 95 | 5 | 12 |
| 96 to 100 | 9 | 11 |
| 101 to 105 | 7 | 3 |
| 106 to 110 | 21 | 45 |
| 111 to 115 | 5 | 10 |
| 116 to 120 | 1 | 13 |
| 121 to 125 | 4 | 15 |
| 126 to 130 | 4 | 4 |
| 131 to 135 | 12 | 7 |
| 136 to 140 | 1 | 0 |
| 141 to 145 | 8 | 2 |
| 146 to 150 | 12 | 9 |
| 151 to 155 | 5 | 4 |
| 156 to 160 | 13 | 9 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 1 |
| 166 to 170 | 14 | 7 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 36 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 8 |
| 181 to 185 | 1 | 9 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 0 |
| 191 to 193 | 0 | 7 |
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.
SANDRA: I'm so glad you're here. SANDRA: You shouldn't have flown. But... JOSEPHINE: It's good to see you. You look beautiful. SANDRA: Thank you. I'll bet you need to --
SANDRA: Really! That's wonderful. JOSEPHINE: I spent a week in Morocco for the story. It was incredible. SANDRA: We'll have to pick up a copy.
PING: How could you miss your cue? You make me look like a fool, out there alone. JING: You weren't alone. PING: Who the hell are you?
SANDRA: I'm going to get started on dishes. JOSEPHINE: I'll help you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.
195 lines from women, 558 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 25 men in the cast. 9 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 13 of 772.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 59 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 23% of the words (2,265), men 77% (7,442). Women have 26% 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
9
Two men
48
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tim Burton (man)
- Written by
- John August (man)
- From the novel by
- Daniel Wallace (man)
- Produced by
- Bruce Cohen (man), Dan Jinks (man), Richard D. Zanuck (man)
- Shot by
- Philippe Rousselot (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Lebenzon (man)
- Music by
- Danny Elfman (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
6 women, 17 men, 32 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 7 men, 1 non-binary, 14 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 9 men, 15 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 16 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 17 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Non-binary
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alison Lohman 24, Marion Cotillard 28, Helena Bonham Carter 37, Jessica Lange 54
Men
Matthew McGrory 30, David Denman 30, Ewan McGregor 32, Billy Crudup 35, Albert Finney 67, Robert Guillaume 76
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $70 million
- Box office
- $123 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 193 scenes and 772 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
