Fails the Bechdel test
Kiss of the Spider Woman
1985. Directed by Hector Babenco, written by Manuel Puig and Leonard Schrader.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 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 2 out of 3.
The film
Luis Molina and Valentin Arregui are cellmates in a South American prison. Luis, a trans individual, is found guilty of immoral behavior and Valentin is a political prisoner. To escape reality, Luis invents romantic movies, while Valentin tries to keep his mind on his situation. During the time they spend together, the two men come to understand and respect each other.
- Released
- 26 Jul 1985
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 80 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 14 wins & 14 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Molina 279 lines, man
- Valentin 201 lines, man
- Voice Of Molina 32 lines, man
- Pedro 23 lines, man
- Warden 19 lines, man
- Leni 13 lines, woman
- Gabriel 12 lines, man
- Clubfoot 8 lines, man
- Michelle 8 lines
- Voice Of Valentin 8 lines, man
Full cast, 36 people
- William Hurt as Luis Molina
- Raúl Juliá as Valentin Arregui
- Sonia Braga as Leni Lamaison / Marta / Spider Woman
- José Lewgoy as Warden
- Milton Gonçalves as Pedro
- Miriam Pires as Mother
- Nuno Leal Maia as Gabriel
- Fernando Torres as Americo
- Patricio Bisso as Greta
- Herson Capri as Werner
- Denise Dumont as Michele
- Nildo Parente as Leader of Resistance
- Antônio Petrin as Clubfoot
- Wilson Grey as Flunky
- Miguel Falabella as Lieutenant
- Walter Breda as Agent #1
- Luis Guilherme as Agent #2
- Walmir Barros as Agent #3
- Luis Serra as Prison Doctor
- Ana Maria Braga as Lidia
- Benjamin Cattan as Molina's Friend #1
- Oswaldo Barreto as Molina’s Friend #2
- Sergio Bright as Molina’s Friend #3
- Claudio Curi as Molina’s Friend #4
- Lineu Dias as Bank Cashier
- Joe Kantor as Judge
- Luis Roberto Galizia as Nurse
- Péricles Campos as Prison Guard #1
- Edmilson Santos as Prison Guard #2
- Walter Vicca as Prison Guard #3
- Ken Kaneko as Prison Guard #4
- Geogers Schlesinger as Jewish Smuggler
- Carlos Fariello as Jewish Smuggler
- Frederico Botelho as Jewish Smuggler
- Sylvio Band as Rabbi
- Paulo Ludmer as Rabbi
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 110
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 | 0 | 34 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 12 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 24 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 14 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 18 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 16 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 21 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 29 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 19 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 35 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 10 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 29 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 16 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 14 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 3 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 50 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 18 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 68 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 3 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 13 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 17 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 16 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 12 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 38 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 41 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 2 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 4 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 6 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 4 |
| 109 to 110 | 0 | 2 |
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, 3 are women's.
17 lines from women, 606 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 20 men in the cast. 3 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 84 of 648.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 151 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 2% of the words (115), men 98% (7,485). Women have 3% 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
46
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Héctor Babenco (man)
- Written by
- Leonard Schrader (man)
- From the novel by
- Manuel Puig (man)
- Produced by
- David Weisman (man)
- Shot by
- Rodolfo Sánchez (gender not listed)
- Edited by
- Mauro Alice (man)
- Music by
- Nando Cordeiro (gender not listed), John Neschling (man)
- Costumes by
- Patricio Bisso (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
-
Camera
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 47 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Sonia Braga 35, Miriam Pires 58
Men
Patricio Bisso 28, Herson Capri 33, William Hurt 35, Nuno Leal Maia 37, Raúl Juliá 45, Milton Gonçalves 51, Fernando Torres 57, José Lewgoy 64
Exhibit G: the money
It made 13.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.3 million
- Box office
- $17 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 110 scenes and 648 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
