Fails the Bechdel test
Fargo
1996. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 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 2 out of 3.
The film
Jerry works in his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself in financial problems. He tries various schemes to come up with money needed for a reason that is never really explained. It has to be assumed that his huge embezzlement of money from the dealership is about to be discovered by father-in-law. When all else falls through, plans he set in motion earlier for two men to kidnap his wife for ransom to be paid by her wealthy father (who doesn't seem to have the time of day for son-in-law). From the moment of the kidnapping, things go wrong and what was supposed to be a non-violent affair turns bloody with more blood added by the minute. Jerry is upset at the bloodshed, which turns loose a pregnant sheriff from Brainerd, MN who is tenacious in attempting to solve the three murders in her jurisdiction.
- Released
- 05 Apr 1996
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 88 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 84 wins & 59 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Marge 214 lines, woman
- Jerry 176 lines, man
- Carl 104 lines, man
- Voice 59 lines
- Wade 51 lines, man
- Mike 31 lines, man
- Lou 28 lines, man
- Norm 28 lines, man
- Man 20 lines, man
- Stan 19 lines, man
Full cast, 40 people
- Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson
- William H. Macy as Jerry Lundegaard
- Steve Buscemi as Carl Showalter
- Peter Stormare as Gaear Grimsrud
- Harve Presnell as Wade Gustafson
- John Carroll Lynch as Norm Gunderson
- Kristin Rudrüd as Jean Lundegaard
- Bruce Bohne as Lou
- Steve Reevis as Shep Proudfoot
- Steve Park as Mike Yanagita
- Gary Houston as Irate Customer
- Sally Wingert as Irate Customer's Wife
- Larissa Kokernot as Hooker #1
- Melissa Peterman as Hooker #2
- Tony Denman as Scotty Lundegaard
- Larry Brandenburg as Stan Grossman
- Michelle Hutchison as Escort
- Bain Boehlke as Mr. Mohra
- Warren Keith as Reilly Diefenbach (voice)
- Michelle LeDoux as Victim In Car
- Steve Edelman as Morning Show Host
- Sharon Anderson as Morning Show Hostess
- Kurt Schweickhardt as Car Salesman
- James Gaulke as State Trooper
- J. Todd Anderson as Victim in the Field
- Michelle Suzanne LeDoux as Victim in Car
- Petra Boden as Cashier
- Wayne A. Evenson as Customer
- Cliff Rakerd as Officer Olson
- Jessica Shepherd as Hotel Clerk
- Peter Schmitz as Airport Lot Attendant
- Steven I. Schafer as Mechanic
- David S. Lomax as Man in Hallway
- José Feliciano as José Feliciano
- Bix Skahill as Night Parking Attendant
- Rose Stockton as Valerie (voice)
- Robert Ozasky as Bismarck Cop #1
- John Bandemer as Bismarck Cop #2
- Don Wescott as Bark Beetle Narrator (voice)
- Bruce Campbell as Soap Opera Actor on TV (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 23
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 1 | 5 | 71 |
| 2 to 2 | 18 | 86 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 37 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 20 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 9 | 11 | 6 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 11 | 24 | 19 |
| 12 to 12 | 6 | 43 |
| 13 to 13 | 10 | 12 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 to 15 | 28 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 to 17 | 66 | 134 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 19 | 2 | 4 |
| 20 to 20 | 5 | 22 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 4 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 21 |
| 23 to 23 | 89 | 48 |
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, 33 are women's.
264 lines from women, 527 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 19 men in the cast. 5 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 10 of 920.
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 29% of the words (2,074), men 71% (5,173). Women have 33% 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
0
Two men
23
Exhibit E: behind the camera
1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joel Coen (man)
- Written by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
- Produced by
- Ethan Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Rick Heinrichs (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- John S. Lyons (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 13 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 39 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Frances McDormand 38, Kristin Rudrüd 40
Men
John Carroll Lynch 32, Steve Reevis 33, Steve Park 33, Steve Buscemi 38, Peter Stormare 42, William H. Macy 45, Harve Presnell 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 8.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $7 million
- Box office
- $60.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 23 scenes and 920 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
