Passes the Bechdel test
Bringing Out the Dead
1999. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Joe Connelly and Paul Schrader.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
29 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 75. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
An Easter story. Frank is a Manhattan medic, working graveyard in a two-man ambulance team. He's burned out, exhausted, seeing ghosts, especially a young woman he failed to save six months' before, and no longer able to save people: he brings in the dead. We follow him for three nights, each with a different partner: Larry, who thinks about dinner, Marcus, who looks to Jesus, and Tom, who wallops people when work is slow. Frank befriends the daughter of a heart victim he brings in; she's Mary, an ex-junkie, angry at her father but now hoping he'll live. Frank tries to get fired, tries to quit, and keeps coming back, to work and to Mary, in need of his own rebirth.
- Released
- 22 Oct 1999
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frank 273 lines, man
- Mary 88 lines, woman
- Walls 59 lines, man
- Marcus 54 lines, man
- Larry 47 lines, man
- Coates 31 lines, man
- Hazmat 31 lines, man
- Noel 23 lines, man
- Nurse Constance 11 lines, woman
- Capt. Barney 10 lines, man
Full cast, 83 people
- Nicolas Cage as Frank Pierce
- Patricia Arquette as Mary Burke
- John Goodman as Larry Verber
- Ving Rhames as Marcus
- Tom Sizemore as Tom Wolls
- Marc Anthony as Noel
- Mary Beth Hurt as Nurse Constance
- Cliff Curtis as Cy Coates
- Aida Turturro as Nurse Crupp
- Nestor Serrano as Dr. Hazmat
- Cynthia Roman as Rose
- Sonja Sohn as Kanita
- Larry Fessenden as Cokehead
- Arthur J. Nascarella as Captain Barney
- Martin Scorsese as Dispatcher (voice)
- Queen Latifah as Dispatcher Love (voice)
- Michael Kenneth Williams as Drug Dealer
- Craig muMs Grant as Voice in Crowd
- John Heffernan as Mr. Oh
- Judy Reyes as ICU Nurse
- Afemo Omilami as Griss
- Cullen O. Johnson as Mr. Burke
- Julyana Soelistyo as Sister Fetus
- Graciela Lecube as Neighbor Woman
- Marylouise Burke as Neighbor Woman
- Phyllis Somerville as Mrs. Burke
- Mary Diveny as Neighbor Woman
- Tom Riis Farrell as John Burke
- Aleks Shaklin as Arguing Russian
- Leonid Citer as Arguing Russian
- Jesus A. Del Rosario Jr. as Man with Bloody Foot
- Bernie Friedman as Big Feet
- Theo Kogan as Prostitute
- Fuschia! as Prostitute
- Matthew Maher as Mr. Oh's Friend
- Bronson Dudley as Mr. Oh's Friend
- Marilyn McDonald as Mr. Oh's Friend
- Ed Jupp Jr. as Homeless Man in Waiting Room
- J. Stanford Hoffman as Homeless Man in Waiting Room
- Rita Norona Schrager as Concerned Hispanic Aunt
- Don Berry as Naked Man
- Mtume Gant as Street Punk
- Michael A. Noto as Grunt
- Omar Scroggins as Bystander
- Andy Davoli as Stanley
- Charlene Hunter as Miss Williams
- Jesse Malin as Club Doorman
- Harper Simon as I.B. Bangin'
- Joseph Monroe Webb as Drummer
- Jon Abrahams as Club Bystander
- Charis Michelsen as I.B.'s Girlfriend
- Lia Yang as Dr. Milagros
- Antone Pagán as Arrested Man
- Melissa Marsala as Bridge & Tunnel Girl
- Betty Miller as Weeping Woman
- Rosemary Gomez as Pregnant Maria
- Luis Rodriguez as Carlos
- Sylva Kelegian as Crackhead
- Frank Ciornei as Dr. Mishra
- Catrina Ganey as Nurse Odette
- Jennifer Lane Newman as Nurse Advisor
- John Bal as Police in Hospital
- Raymond Cassar as Police in Hospital
- Tom Cappadona as Drunk
- Jack A. O'Connell as Drunk
- Randy Foster as Drunk
- Richard Spore as Homeless Suicidal
- James Hanlon as Fireman
- Chris Edwards as Fireman
- Mark Giordano as Police Sergeant
- Michael Mulheren as Cop in Elevator
- David Zayas as Cop in Elevator
- Terry Serpico as Cop #1
- Floyd Resnick as Cop #3
- Megan Leigh as Surgeon
- David Vasquez as Screaming Man
- Joseph P. Reidy as ICU Doctor
- Erica Bamforth as Urchin Prostitute (uncredited)
- Peju Bamgboshe as Child Zombie (uncredited)
- Carolyn Campbell as Policewoman (uncredited)
- Michael Carbonaro as Club Kid (uncredited)
- Joe Connelly as Catatonic Patient in Suede Coat (uncredited)
- Brian Smyj as Cop #2 (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, 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 75
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 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 to 4 | 5 | 14 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 to 8 | 8 | 33 |
| 9 to 10 | 5 | 18 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 34 |
| 13 to 14 | 3 | 6 |
| 15 to 16 | 6 | 15 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 31 |
| 19 to 20 | 0 | 16 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 3 |
| 23 to 24 | 17 | 11 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 to 28 | 3 | 27 |
| 29 to 30 | 5 | 23 |
| 31 to 32 | 1 | 10 |
| 33 to 34 | 13 | 16 |
| 35 to 36 | 19 | 36 |
| 37 to 38 | 5 | 38 |
| 39 to 40 | 2 | 22 |
| 41 to 42 | 9 | 8 |
| 43 to 44 | 2 | 1 |
| 45 to 46 | 11 | 42 |
| 47 to 48 | 5 | 1 |
| 49 to 50 | 4 | 4 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 6 |
| 53 to 54 | 5 | 23 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 11 |
| 57 to 58 | 0 | 21 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 9 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 27 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 9 |
| 65 to 66 | 7 | 9 |
| 67 to 68 | 3 | 51 |
| 69 to 70 | 1 | 7 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 to 74 | 6 | 5 |
| 75 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
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.
MRS. BURKE: You want some coffee? I have some apple sauce cake too. MARY: Thank you.
MARY: You go on home, okay. I'm fine, really. I don't need you. Thanks. KANITA: Hey Cy, guess who's here?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
147 lines from women, 599 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
29 women and 54 men in the cast. 11 women and 35 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 772.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 96 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (2,039), men 78% (7,176). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
3
Two men
61
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Scorsese (man)
- Written by
- Paul Schrader (man)
- From the novel by
- Joe Connelly (man)
- Produced by
- Barbara De Fina (woman), Scott Rudin (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Richardson (man)
- Edited by
- Thelma Schoonmaker (woman)
- Music by
- Elmer Bernstein (man)
- Production design by
- Dante Ferretti (man)
- Costumes by
- Rita Ryack (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Lewis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 12 men, 15 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 11 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 12 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Patricia Arquette 31, Aida Turturro 37, Mary Beth Hurt 53
Men
Marc Anthony 31, Cliff Curtis 31, Nicolas Cage 35, Tom Sizemore 37, Ving Rhames 40, Nestor Serrano 43, John Goodman 47
Exhibit H: the money
It made 52% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $32 million
- Box office
- $16.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 75 scenes and 772 lines of dialogue. How the test works
