Passes the Bechdel test

Dune

Name: Dune
Released: 1984

1984. Directed by David Lynch, written by Frank Herbert and David Lynch.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 268.
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

In the distant year of 10191, all the planets of the known Universe are under the control of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and the most important commodity in the Universe. is a substance called the spice "MELANGE" which is said to have the power of extending life, expanding the consciousness and even to "fold space" ; being able to travel to any distance without physically moving. This spice "MELANGE" is said to only be produced in the desert of planet Arrakis, where the FREM people have the prophecy of a man who will lead them to true freedom. This "desert planet"of Arrakis is also known as DUNE. A secret report of the space "GUILD" talks about some circumstances and plans that could jeopardize the production of "SPICE" with four planets involved: ARRAKIS, CALADAN, GIEDI PRIME and KAITAIN, a world at least visually very alike to Earth and house of the Emperor of the known Universe. The "GUILD" sends a third stage navigator to KAITAIN to ask details from the Emperor and to demand him the killing of young Paul Atreides, son of the Duke Leto Atreides of CALADAN.

Released: 14 Dec 1984
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.2 / 10
Metascore: 41 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Paul 161 lines, man
Jessica 68 lines, woman
Reverend Mother 41 lines, woman
Duke Leto 36 lines, man
Emperor 31 lines, man
Gurney 30 lines, man
Kynes 30 lines, man
Baron 28 lines, man
Stilgar 20 lines, man
Thufir 16 lines, man

Full cast, 40 people

Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides
Francesca Annis as Lady Jessica
Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck
Linda Hunt as Shadout Mapes
José Ferrer as Padisha Emperor Shaddam IV
Freddie Jones as Thufir Hawat
Brad Dourif as Piter De Vries
Richard Jordan as Duncan Idaho
Virginia Madsen as Princess Irulan
Silvana Mangano as Reverend Mother Ramallo
Everett McGill as Stilgar
Sting as Feyd Rautha
Kenneth McMillan as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen
Jack Nance as Nefud
Siân Phillips as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Jürgen Prochnow as Duke Leto Atreides
Leonardo Cimino as The Baron's Doctor
Paul L. Smith as The Beast Rabban
Dean Stockwell as Doctor Wellington Yueh
Max von Sydow as Doctor Kynes
Alicia Witt as Alia
Sean Young as Chani
Danny Corkill as Orlop
Honorato Magaloni as Otheym
Judd Omen as Jamis
Molly Wryn as Harah
Angélica Aragón as Bene Gesserit Sister (uncredited)
Thomas Ebert as House Atreides Guard (uncredited)
Humberto Elizondo as Czigo (uncredited)
Ricardo Hill as (uncredited)
Ernesto Laguardia as Harkonnen's Victim (uncredited)
David Lynch as Spice Miner (uncredited)
Ramón Menéndez as Kinet (uncredited)
Ana Ofelia Murguía as Palace Maid (uncredited)
Claudia Ramírez as Fremen Girl (uncredited)
John Sabol as Fedaykin Fighter (uncredited)
Margarita Sanz as Lady Jessica's Maid (uncredited)
Jacqueline Voltaire as (uncredited)
José Luis García Mainou as (uncredited)
Julieta Rosen as Palace Maid (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 268

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 6	9	7
7 to 12	0	6
13 to 18	3	46
19 to 24	1	13
25 to 30	26	12
31 to 36	9	9
37 to 42	1	15
43 to 48	0	0
49 to 54	0	3
55 to 60	7	11
61 to 66	0	2
67 to 72	0	7
73 to 78	20	28
79 to 84	1	10
85 to 90	0	16
91 to 96	0	18
97 to 102	0	14
103 to 108	0	1
109 to 114	1	9
115 to 120	8	15
121 to 126	3	17
127 to 132	2	5
133 to 138	0	4
139 to 144	3	10
145 to 150	4	6
151 to 156	0	1
157 to 162	1	2
163 to 168	4	6
169 to 174	6	7
175 to 180	6	17
181 to 186	4	6
187 to 192	3	3
193 to 198	5	14
199 to 204	0	11
205 to 210	0	2
211 to 216	1	12
217 to 222	10	4
223 to 228	4	0
229 to 234	1	0
235 to 240	0	5
241 to 246	0	2
247 to 252	4	9
253 to 258	2	3
259 to 264	0	13
265 to 268	7	22

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.

JESSICA: Then I will teach you our way of battle.... you have the word bond of a Bene Gesserit. A FREMEN: It is the legend.

HARAH: What will you call her? JESSICA: Alia. ALIA: Mother.

HARAH: But Your Reverence, they won't have her around them. ALIA: Harah! Would they deny me the right to use this mind?... ALIA: Would they deny me the right to use this voice?... JESSICA: Alia!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.

156 lines from women, 423 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 24 men in the cast. 9 women and 24 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 621. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (1,696), men 76% (5,361). Women have 27% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 19 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 7% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: David Lynch (man)
Written by: David Lynch (man)
From the novel by: Frank Herbert (man)
Produced by: Raffaella De Laurentiis (woman), Dino De Laurentiis (man)
Shot by: Freddie Francis (man)
Edited by: Antony Gibbs (man)
Music by: Brian Eno (man), David Paich (man), Jeff Porcaro (man), Mike Porcaro (man), Steve Porcaro (man), Marty Paich (man) and 3 more
Production design by: Anthony Masters (man)
Costumes by: Bob Ringwood (man)
Cast by: Jane Jenkins (woman)