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Fails the Bechdel test

Kafka

1991. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Lem Dobbs.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    6 women characters. 3 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    Women do talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

Poster for Kafka

The film

Kafka, an insurance worker gets embroiled in an underground group after a co-worker is murdered. The underground group is responsible for bombings all over town, attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society. He eventually penetrates the secret organization and must confront them.

Released
25 Mar 1992
Genres
Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.8 / 10
Metascore
46 / 100
Awards
1 win & 2 nominations
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Kafka 226 lines, man
  2. Gabriela 75 lines, woman
  3. Bizzlebek 29 lines, man
  4. Murnau 26 lines, man
  5. Inspector 25 lines
  6. Oskar 25 lines, man
  7. Chief Clerk 22 lines, man
  8. Ludwig 21 lines, man
  9. Burgel 18 lines, man
  10. Keeper 18 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
  • Jeremy Irons as Kafka
  • Theresa Russell as Gabriela
  • Joel Grey as Burgel
  • Ian Holm as Dr. Murnau
  • Jeroen Krabbé as Bizzlebek
  • Armin Mueller-Stahl as Grubach
  • Alec Guinness as The Chief Clerk
  • Brian Glover as Castle Hechman
  • Keith Allen as Ass. Ludwig
  • Simon McBurney as Assistant Oscar
  • Robert Flemyng as The Keeper of the Files
  • Matyelok Gibbs as Concierge
  • Ion Caramitru as Solemn Anarchist
  • Hilde Van Mieghem as Female Anarchist
  • Jan Nemejovský as Mustachioed Anarchist
  • Toon Agterberg as Youthful Anarchist
  • Maria Miles as Anna
  • Vladimír Gut as Edward
  • Emil Wolk as Man Under Microscope
  • Josef Abrhám as Friend of Kafka
  • Guy Fithen as Friend of Kafka
  • Zuzana Halustokova as Friend of Kafka
  • Ondřej Havelka as Friend of Kafka
  • Lenka Kořínková as Friend of Kafka
  • Petr Lepša as Friend of Kafka
  • Leon Silver as Friend of Kafka
  • Debora Weston as Friend of Kafka
  • Jan Slovák as Man at Bar
  • David Shaw-Parker as Interrogating Attendant
  • Jerome Flynn as Castle Attendant
  • Ewan Stewart as Castle Attendant
  • James McPhee as Castle Attendant
  • Lubos Rychvalsky as Kidnapped Vagrant
  • Pavel Myslík as Vagrant
  • Frantisek Stupka as Vagrant
  • Petr Jákl as Quarry Labourer
  • Karel Bělohradský as Inspector's Assistant
  • Josef Šebek as Inspector's Assistant
  • Robert Krejčík as Evil Wagon Driver
  • Vítězslav Bouchner as Lens Room Cleaner
  • David Jensen as The Laughing Man

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 44

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 100
2 to 200
3 to 3323
4 to 446
5 to 500
6 to 6410
7 to 736
8 to 8414
9 to 900
10 to 1001
11 to 1105
12 to 12016
13 to 13428
14 to 14010
15 to 151916
16 to 1601
17 to 171534
18 to 18021
19 to 191916
20 to 2007
21 to 21014
22 to 22026
23 to 23012
24 to 24014
25 to 25021
26 to 26013
27 to 2710
28 to 2803
29 to 2900
30 to 3000
31 to 3101
32 to 3201
33 to 3301
34 to 34021
35 to 3503
36 to 36010
37 to 37015
38 to 38015
39 to 39040
40 to 4000
41 to 411210
42 to 4202
43 to 4301
44 to 44010

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, 16 are women's.

88 lines from women, 447 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 31 men in the cast. 3 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 22 of 588. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 115 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 (1,368), men 81% (5,893). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Steven Soderbergh (man)
Written by
Lem Dobbs (man)
Produced by
Harry Benn (man), Stuart Cornfeld (man)
Shot by
Walt Lloyd (man)
Edited by
Steven Soderbergh (man)
Music by
Cliff Martinez (man)
Production design by
Gavin Bocquet (man)
Costumes by
Michael Jeffery (gender not listed)
Cast by
Susie Figgis (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    2 women, 13 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 9 men, 5 not listed

  • Production

    1 women, 11 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 3 men, 3 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

  • Other crew

    0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 34 on average. Men: 53 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Theresa Russell 34

Men

Simon McBurney 34, Keith Allen 38, Jeremy Irons 43, Jeroen Krabbé 46, Brian Glover 57, Joel Grey 59, Ian Holm 60, Armin Mueller-Stahl 60, Alec Guinness 77

Exhibit G: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
$11 million
Box office
Not listed

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 44 scenes and 588 lines of dialogue. How the test works

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