Fails the Bechdel test

Frantic

Name: Frantic
Released: 1988

1988. Directed by Roman Polanski, written by Roman Polanski and Gérard Brach and Jeff Gross.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
9 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 doctor and his wife go to Paris for a medical conference. While he is showering, his wife disappears. His lack of language and the odd way she disappeared makes it nearly impossible for him to find any official help in his search as he enters the punk/drug culture to find out what has happened to her.

Released: 26 Feb 1988
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 66 / 100
Awards: 2 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Richard 401 lines, man
Michele 180 lines, woman
Sondra 41 lines, woman
Gaillard 32 lines, man
Pascal 29 lines, man
Wino 24 lines, man
Williams 21 lines, man
Casey 19 lines, man
Manin Tweed 19 lines, man
Shaap 18 lines, man

Full cast, 44 people

Harrison Ford as Richard Walker
Emmanuelle Seigner as Michelle
Betty Buckley as Sondra Walker
Dominique Pinon as Wino
Jacques Ciron as Hotel Manager
John Mahoney as Williams
Jimmie Ray Weeks as Shaap
David Huddleston as Peter
Alexandra Stewart as Edie
Yorgo Voyagis as The Kidnapper
Djiby Soumare as Taxi Driver
Roch Leibovici as Bellboy 2
Dominique Virton as Desk Clerk
Gérard Klein as Gaillard
Stéphane D'Audeville as Bellboy
Laurent Spielvogel as Hall Porter
Alain Doutey as Hall Porter
Louise Vincent as Tourist
Patrice Melennec as Hotel Detective
Ella Jaroszewicz as Restroom Attendant
Joëlle Lagneau as Florist
Jean-Pierre Delage as Florist
Marc Dudicourt as Cafe Owner
Artus de Penguern as Waiter
Richard Dieux as Desk Cop
Yves Rénier as Inspector
Robert Ground as U.S. Security Officer
Bruce Lester-Johnson as Marine Guard
Michael Morris as U.S. Embassy Clerk
Claude Doineau as U.S. Embassy Clerk
André Quiqui as "Blue Parrot" Barman
Thomas M. Pollard as Rastafarian
Böll Boyer as Dédé Martin
Tina Sportolaro as TWA Clerk
Alan Ladd as Bellboy 3
Robert Barr as Irwin
Patrick Floersheim as Man in Leather
Marcel Bluwal as Man in Tweed
Isabelle Noah as Houseboat Owner
David Jalil as The Bodyguard
Jean-Claude Houbart as Dead Driver
Raouf Ben Amor as Dr. Metlaoui
Angela Featherstone as Extra (uncredited)
Roman Polanski as Taxi Driver (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 131

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 3	1	1
4 to 6	5	3
7 to 9	1	0
10 to 12	2	2
13 to 15	23	23
16 to 18	0	5
19 to 21	0	4
22 to 24	0	18
25 to 27	0	20
28 to 30	1	23
31 to 33	0	3
34 to 36	0	46
37 to 39	0	20
40 to 42	0	37
43 to 45	0	54
46 to 48	0	19
49 to 51	0	11
52 to 54	0	30
55 to 57	0	2
58 to 60	2	1
61 to 63	0	6
64 to 66	17	28
67 to 69	9	11
70 to 72	22	24
73 to 75	11	12
76 to 78	2	1
79 to 81	7	14
82 to 84	14	20
85 to 87	15	55
88 to 90	7	16
91 to 93	22	33
94 to 96	6	8
97 to 99	4	17
100 to 102	8	7
103 to 105	6	11
106 to 108	1	12
109 to 111	14	40
112 to 114	11	8
115 to 117	2	19
118 to 120	2	4
121 to 123	7	7
124 to 126	0	0
127 to 129	2	2
130 to 131	4	4

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, 25 are women's.

228 lines from women, 681 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

9 women and 34 men in the cast. 3 women and 18 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,002. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 285 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,911), men 77% (6,249). Women have 25% 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

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 9% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Roman Polanski (man)
Written by: Roman Polanski (man), Gérard Brach (man)
Produced by: Tim Hampton (man), Thom Mount (man)
Shot by: Witold Sobociński (man)
Edited by: Sam O'Steen (man)
Music by: Ennio Morricone (man)
Production design by: Pierre Guffroy (man)
Costumes by: Anthony Powell (man)
Cast by: Margot Capelier (woman), Bonnie Timmermann (woman)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
Sound

0 women, 7 men
Camera

0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
Costume & Make-Up

0 women, 4 men
Production

2 women, 2 men
Art

0 women, 3 men
Directing

0 women, 3 men
Writing

0 women, 2 men

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 36 on average. Men: 47 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Emmanuelle Seigner 21, Betty Buckley 40, Alexandra Stewart 48

Men

Dominique Pinon 32, Yorgo Voyagis 42, Harrison Ford 45, Jimmie Ray Weeks 45, John Mahoney 47, David Huddleston 57, Jacques Ciron 59

Exhibit G: the money

It made 88% of what it cost.

Budget: $20 million
Box office: $17.6 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 131 scenes and 1,002 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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