Fails the Bechdel test

Blood Diamond

Name: Blood Diamond
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by Edward Zwick, written by Charles Leavitt and C. Gaby Mitchell.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 3 of them speak.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots. With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer's life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him.

Released: 08 Dec 2006
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 8 / 10
Metascore: 64 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 5 Oscars. 8 wins & 32 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Archer 302 lines, man
Solomon 159 lines, man
Maddy 116 lines, woman
Benjamin 39 lines, man
The Colonel 24 lines
Simmons 23 lines, man
Fawaz 15 lines, man
Captain Poison 14 lines, man
Joost 11 lines, man
Poison 9 lines, man

Full cast, 31 people

Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny Archer
Djimon Hounsou as Solomon Vandy
Jennifer Connelly as Maddy Bowen
Kagiso Kuypers as Dia Vandy
Arnold Vosloo as Colonel Coetzee
Antony Coleman as Cordell Brown
Benu Mabhena as Jassie Vandy
Anointing Lukola as N'Yanda Vandy
David Harewood as Captain Poison
Basil Wallace as Benjamin Kapanay
Jimi Mistry as Nabil
Michael Sheen as Simmons
Marius Weyers as Van De Kaap
Stephen Collins as Ambassador Walker
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as M'Ed
Ato Essandoh as Commander Rambo
David S. Lee as Cockney Journalist
Percy Matsemela as Commander Zero
Klemens Becker as German Minister
Grant Swanby as UNCHR Official
Adetokumboh M'Cormack as R.U.F. Trainer
Tau Maserumule as R.U.F. Soldier
Tyrone Keogh as SA Page
Mduduzi Mabaso as Rebel 1
Nathaniel Ramabulana as Rebel 2
Zenzo Ngqobe as Rebel 3
Vanessa Haywood as Diplomat's Wife (uncredited)
Jonathan Pienaar as SA Cameraman
Winston Ntshona as Old Mende
Clare Holman as News Reporter
Gaurav Chopra as Journalist

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 83

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 2	1	6
3 to 4	1	5
5 to 6	0	14
7 to 8	0	5
9 to 10	0	2
11 to 12	0	2
13 to 14	0	2
15 to 16	0	11
17 to 18	1	11
19 to 20	0	5
21 to 22	0	2
23 to 24	0	12
25 to 26	0	15
27 to 28	21	19
29 to 30	0	0
31 to 32	0	12
33 to 34	0	0
35 to 36	0	23
37 to 38	0	18
39 to 40	0	2
41 to 42	0	14
43 to 44	0	1
45 to 46	0	1
47 to 48	0	3
49 to 50	21	27
51 to 52	0	9
53 to 54	0	22
55 to 56	10	16
57 to 58	6	3
59 to 60	5	15
61 to 62	8	22
63 to 64	1	27
65 to 66	4	21
67 to 68	17	68
69 to 70	15	15
71 to 72	0	104
73 to 74	9	55
75 to 76	3	18
77 to 78	9	7
79 to 80	0	6
81 to 82	1	3
83 to 83	0	3

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, 18 are women's.

133 lines from women, 626 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 26 men in the cast. 3 women and 26 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 7 of 824. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 165 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 15% of the words (1,053), men 85% (6,147). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

5 of the 20 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Edward Zwick (man)
Written by: Charles Leavitt (man)
Story by: C. Gaby Mitchell (gender not listed), Charles Leavitt (man)
Produced by: Edward Zwick (man), Genevieve Hofmeyr (woman), Darrell James Roodt (man), Paula Weinstein (woman), Josh Gummersall (gender not listed), Marshall Herskovitz (man) and 3 more
Shot by: Eduardo Serra (man)
Edited by: Steven Rosenblum (man)
Music by: James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by: Dan Weil (man)
Costumes by: Ngila Dickson (woman)
Cast by: Victoria Thomas (woman), Moonyeenn Lee (woman)