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Passes the Bechdel test

Eyes Wide Shut

1999. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stanley Kubrick and Frederic Raphael and Arthur Schnitzler.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    18 women characters. 11 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 132.
  3. 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.

Poster for Eyes Wide Shut

The film

After his wife, Alice, tells him about her sexual fantasies, William Harford sets out for a night of sexual adventure. After several less than successful encounters, he meets an old friend, Nick Nightingale--now a musician--who tells him of strange sex parties where he is required to play the piano blindfolded. All the men at the party are costumed and wear masks while the women are all young and beautiful. Harford manages to find an appropriate costume and heads out to the party. Once there, however, he is warned by someone who recognizes him, despite the mask, that he is in great danger. He manages to extricate himself, but the threats prove to be quite real and sinister.

Released
16 Jul 1999
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated
R
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
69 / 100
Awards
12 wins & 30 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Bill 346 lines, man
  2. Alice 113 lines, woman
  3. Milich 50 lines, man
  4. Ziegler 50 lines, man
  5. Nick 39 lines, man
  6. Domino 23 lines, woman
  7. Szavost 22 lines, man
  8. Sally 20 lines, woman
  9. Helena 18 lines, woman
  10. Marion 18 lines, woman
Full cast, 78 people
  • Tom Cruise as Dr. William Harford
  • Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford
  • Sydney Pollack as Victor Ziegler
  • Marie Richardson as Marion
  • Rade Šerbedžija as Milich
  • Todd Field as Nick Nightingale
  • Vinessa Shaw as Domino
  • Alan Cumming as Desk Clerk
  • Sky du Mont as Sandor Szavost
  • Fay Masterson as Sally
  • Leelee Sobieski as Milich's Daughter
  • Thomas Gibson as Carl
  • Madison Eginton as Helena Harford
  • Julienne Davis as Mandy
  • Jackie Sawiris as Roz
  • Leslie Lowe as Illona
  • Peter Hans Benson as Bandleader
  • Michael Doven as Ziegler's Secretary
  • Louise J. Taylor as Gayle
  • Stewart Thorndike as Nuala
  • Randall Paul as Harris
  • Lisa Leone as Lisa
  • Kevin Connealy as Lou Nathanson
  • Mariana Hewett as Rosa
  • Dan Rollman as Rowdy College Kid
  • Gavin Parry as Rowdy College Kid
  • Chris Pare as Rowdy College Kid
  • Adam Lias as Rowdy College Kid
  • Christian Clarke as Rowdy College Kid
  • Kyle Whitcombe as Rowdy College Kid
  • Gary Goba as Naval Officer
  • Florian Windorfer as Maître D' - Café Sonata
  • Togo Igawa as Japanese Man #1
  • Eiji Kusuhara as Japanese Man #2
  • Sam Douglas as Cab Driver
  • Angus MacInnes as Gateman #1
  • Abigail Good as Mysterious Woman / Masked Party Principal
  • Brian W. Cook as Tall Butler
  • Leon Vitali as Red Cloak
  • Carmela Marner as Waitress at Gillespie's
  • Phil Davies as Stalker
  • Cindy Dolenc as Girl at Sharky's
  • Clark Hayes as Hospital Receptionist
  • Treva Etienne as Morgue Orderly
  • Colin Angus as Masked Party Principal
  • Karla Ashley as Masked Party Principal
  • Kate Charman as Masked Party Principal
  • James Demaria as Masked Party Principal
  • Tony De Sergio as Masked Party Principal
  • Janie Dickens as Masked Party Principal
  • Laura Fallace as Masked Party Principal
  • Vanessa Fenton as Masked Party Principal
  • Georgina Finch as Masked Party Principal
  • Peter Godwin as Masked Party Principal
  • Joanna Heath as Masked Party Principal
  • Lee Henshaw as Masked Party Principal
  • Ateeka Poole as Masked Party Principal
  • Adam Pudney as Masked Party Principal
  • Sharon Quinn as Masked Party Principal
  • Ben De Saumserez as Masked Party Principal
  • Emma Lou Sharratt as Masked Party Principal
  • Paul Spelling as Masked Party Principal
  • Matthew Thompson as Masked Party Principal
  • Dan Travers as Masked Party Principal
  • Russell Trigg as Masked Party Principal
  • Kate Whalin as Masked Party Principal
  • Cate Blanchett as Mysterious Woman (voice) (uncredited)
  • John N. Campbell as Masked Party Guest (uncredited)
  • Emilio D'Alessandro as Man at Newsstand (uncredited)
  • Paul Desbois as Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
  • Donna Ewin as Masked Party Principal (uncredited)
  • Sam Heydon as Masked Party Principal (uncredited)
  • Alex Hobbs as Boy in Examination Room (uncredited)
  • Christiane Kubrick as Woman Behind Dr. Harford at Café Sonata (uncredited)
  • Katharina Kubrick as Mother of Boy in Examination Room (uncredited)
  • Graham Skidmore as Background Artist (uncredited)
  • Stanley Kubrick as Man at Café Sonata (uncredited)
  • José Zapico as Panchero (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 132

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 300
4 to 62510
7 to 9816
10 to 12929
13 to 151529
16 to 181526
19 to 2123
22 to 2415
25 to 2701
28 to 3042
31 to 333031
34 to 3600
37 to 391620
40 to 42216
43 to 4500
46 to 481512
49 to 5122
52 to 5412
55 to 5721
58 to 60767
61 to 63029
64 to 66145
67 to 6900
70 to 7200
73 to 7506
76 to 78012
79 to 8133
82 to 841010
85 to 87317
88 to 90910
91 to 93638
94 to 96118
97 to 9955
100 to 10200
103 to 1051310
106 to 10800
109 to 11101
112 to 1142020
115 to 11702
118 to 12011
121 to 12306
124 to 12601
127 to 129060
130 to 132216

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.
ALICE: Roz. ALICE: OK, Roz. We're going now. ROZ: Wow! You look amazing, Mrs Harford! ALICE: Oh, thank you ... Helena, are you ready for bed?
ALICE: Now, the phone number is on the fridge . . .. ROZ: OK. ALICE: And there's plenty of food in there, so help yourself. ROZ: OK.
NUALA: N ... U ... A ... L ... A. GAYLE: You don't remember me, do you? GAYLE: You were very kind to me once.
ALICE: Fascinating. GAYLE: Do you know what's so nice about doct or-.,
ALICE: Come on, baby, let's finish this off. All right, we HELENA: One hundred and seventy-five. ALICE: So, is it going to be a subtraction or addition? HELENA: Hmmm . .. how much more means,that it would be an subtraction, wouldn't it?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.

247 lines from women, 572 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

18 women and 26 men in the cast. 11 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 839. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 136 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 31% of the words (2,334), men 69% (5,223). Women have 30% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick (man)
Written by
Stanley Kubrick (man), Frederic Raphael (man)
From the novel by
Arthur Schnitzler (man)
Produced by
Stanley Kubrick (man), Brian W. Cook (man)
Shot by
Larry Smith (man)
Edited by
Nigel Galt (man)
Music by
Jocelyn Pook (woman)
Production design by
Leslie Tomkins (man), Roy Walker (man)
Costumes by
Marit Allen (woman), Timothy Everest (gender not listed)
Cast by
Denise Chamian (woman), Leon Vitali (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Camera

    1 women, 6 men, 7 not listed

  • Production

    1 women, 5 men, 8 not listed

  • Sound

    3 women, 5 men, 4 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Other crew

    1 women, 4 men, 3 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 1 men, 6 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 30 on average. Men: 46 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Vinessa Shaw 22, Fay Masterson 25, Nicole Kidman 32, Marie Richardson 40

Men

Alan Cumming 34, Todd Field 35, Tom Cruise 37, Rade Šerbedžija 52, Sky du Mont 52, Sydney Pollack 65

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.5 times what it cost.

Budget
$65 million
Box office
$163 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 132 scenes and 839 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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