Passes the Bechdel test

Inglourious Basterds

Name: Inglourious Basterds
Released: 2009

2009. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, written by Quentin Tarantino.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 51.
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 German-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

Released: 21 Aug 2009
Genres: Drama, War
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.4 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 134 wins & 173 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Shosanna 133 lines, woman
Col Landa 95 lines, man
Col.Landa 78 lines, man
Bridget 75 lines, woman
Lt.Aldo 71 lines, man
Lt.Hicox 63 lines, man
Fredrick 52 lines, man
Major Hellstrom 38 lines, man
Perrier 38 lines, man
Goebbels 33 lines, man

Full cast, 73 people

Brad Pitt as LT. Aldo Raine
Mélanie Laurent as Shosanna
Christoph Waltz as COL. Hans Landa
Eli Roth as SGT. Donny Donowitz
Michael Fassbender as LT. Archie Hicox
Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark
Daniel Brühl as Fredrick Zoller
Til Schweiger as SGT. Hugo Stiglitz
Gedeon Burkhard as CPL. Wilhelm Wicki
Jacky Ido as Marcel
B.J. Novak as PFC. Smithson Utivich
Omar Doom as PFC. Omar Ulmer
August Diehl as Major Hellstrom
Denis Ménochet as Perrier LaPadite
Sylvester Groth as Joseph Goebbels
Martin Wuttke as Hitler
Mike Myers as General Ed Fenech
Julie Dreyfus as Francesca Mondino
Richard Sammel as SGT. Rachtman
Alexander Fehling as Master SGT. Wilhelm / Pola Negri
Rod Taylor as Winston Churchill
Sönke Möhring as PVT. Butz / Walter Frazer
Samm Levine as PFC. Hirschberg
Paul Rust as PFC. Andy Kagan
Michael Bacall as PFC. Michael Zimmerman
Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey as German Soldier / Winnetou
Petra Hartung as German Female Soldier / Beethoven
Volker Michalowski as German Soldier / Edgar Wallace
Ken Duken as German Soldier / Mata Hari
Christian Berkel as Proprietor Eric
Anne-Sophie Franck as Mathilda
Léa Seydoux as Charlotte LaPadite
Tina Rodriguez as Julie LaPadite
Lena Friedrich as Suzanne LaPadite
Ludger Pistor as CPT. Wolfgang
Jana Pallaske as Babette
Wolfgang Lindner as Herrman #1
Michael Kranz as Herrman #3
Rainer Bock as General Schonherr
André Penvern as Old French Veterinarian
Sebastian Hülk as Hellstrom's Driver / Nazi Usher #1
Buddy Joe Hooker as Gaspar
Carlos Fidel as PFC. Simon Sakowitz
Christian Brückner as Kliest Voice (voice)
Hilmar Eichhorn as Emil Jannings
Patrick Elias as Jakob Dreyfus
Eva Löbau as Miriam Dreyfus
Salvadore Brandt as Bob Dreyfus
Jasper Linnewedel as Amos Dreyfus
Wilfried Hochholdinger as German Company SGT.
Olivier Girard as Maxim's Waiter
Michael Scheel as General Frank
Leo Plank as Motorcycle Rider #1
Andreas Tietz as Motorcycle Rider #2
Bo Svenson as American Colonel
Enzo G. Castellari as Enzo G. Castellari
Samuel L. Jackson as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Bela B. as Usher #2 (uncredited)
Noemi Besedes as German Movie Star (uncredited)
Hélène Cardona as German Official (voice) (uncredited)
Jake Garber as German Soldier (uncredited)
Sabrina Rattey as German Civilian (uncredited)
Alex Boden as Military Attaché (uncredited)
Guido Föhrweißer as SS Major (uncredited)
Harvey Keitel as OSS Commander Who Agrees to Deal (voice) (uncredited)
Andrew Napier as Nazi Theatre Attendee (uncredited)
Greg Nicotero as Gestapo Major (uncredited)
Quentin Tarantino as First Scalped Nazi / American Soldier in 'Pride of Nation' (uncredited)
Vitus Wieser as French Waiter (uncredited)
Bea-Marie Rück as German Female Soldier (uncredited)
Daniela Schwerdt as Cinema Guest (uncredited)
Niko Novick as Nazi Soldier (uncredited)
Frederik Klaus as Soldier (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 51

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	3	11
3 to 4	4	96
5 to 6	0	9
7 to 8	0	11
9 to 10	0	53
11 to 12	0	17
13 to 14	15	44
15 to 16	0	0
17 to 18	37	0
19 to 20	22	21
21 to 22	32	35
23 to 24	35	87
25 to 26	17	76
27 to 28	12	13
29 to 30	0	27
31 to 32	31	156
33 to 34	0	4
35 to 36	1	12
37 to 38	28	38
39 to 40	3	2
41 to 42	17	45
43 to 44	4	8
45 to 46	0	5
47 to 48	0	9
49 to 50	13	89
51 to 51	0	17

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.

FRANCESCA: Bon jour. SHOSANNA: Bon jour.

SHOSANNA AND FREDRICK: Fredrick still outside the doorway, and Shosanna, still baring the way. SHOSANNA: I have to get prepared for the reel change.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 24 are women's.

274 lines from women, 885 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 57 men in the cast. 11 women and 68 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 104 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 19% of the words (4,200), men 81% (18,032). Women have 24% 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

5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino (man)
Written by: Quentin Tarantino (man)
Produced by: Lawrence Bender (man)
Shot by: Robert Richardson (man)
Edited by: Sally Menke (woman)
Production design by: David Wasco (man)
Costumes by: Anna B. Sheppard (woman), Giorgio Armani (man)
Cast by: Olivier Carbone (man), Simone Bär (woman), Jenny Jue (woman), Johanna Ray (woman)