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Fails the Bechdel test

Ladyhawke

1985. Directed by Richard Donner, written by Edward Khmara and Michael Thomas and Tom Mankiewicz.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

  1. No 1. At least two women
    Fewer than two women characters.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

Poster for Ladyhawke

The film

Philippe Gaston (Matthew Broderick), a thief, escapes from the dungeon at Aquila, sparking a manhunt. He is nearly captured when Captain Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer) befriends him. Navarre has been hunted by the Bishop's men for two years, ever since he escaped with the Lady Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer), after whom the Bishop (John Wood) has lusted. Navarre and Isabeau have a curse that the Bishop has placed on them that causes Navarre to be a wolf during the night and Isabeau to be a hawk during the day. Navarre insists that Philippe help him re-enter the city to help him kill the heavily guarded Bishop.

Released
12 Apr 1985
Genres
Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.9 / 10
Metascore
64 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 2 Oscars. 5 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Phillipe 171 lines, man
  2. Navarre 74 lines, man
  3. Imperius 64 lines, man
  4. Isabeau 32 lines, woman
  5. Bishop 18 lines, man
  6. Marquet 18 lines, man
  7. Guard 13 lines, man
  8. Jehan 9 lines, man
  9. Fornac 8 lines, man
  10. Phillipe'S Voice 6 lines
Full cast, 29 people
  • Matthew Broderick as Phillipe Gaston
  • Rutger Hauer as Captain Etienne Navarre
  • Michelle Pfeiffer as Isabeau d'Anjou
  • Alfred Molina as Cezar
  • John Wood as Bishop of Aquila
  • Leo McKern as Father Imperius
  • Ken Hutchison as Marquet
  • Giancarlo Prete as Fornac
  • Loris Loddi as Jehan
  • Charles Borromel as Insane Prisoner
  • Massimo Sarchielli as Innkeeper
  • Nicolina Papetti as Mrs. Pitou
  • Alessandro Serra as Mr. Pitou
  • Venantino Venantini as Bishop's Secretary
  • Nanà Cecchi as Bishop's Woman
  • Gregory Snegoff as Cart Driver
  • Benito Stefanelli as Bishop's Guard
  • Omero Capanna as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Giovanni Cianfriglia as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Nello Pazzafini as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Augusto Funari as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Domenico Cianfriglia as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Gino Marturano as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Franco Moruzzi as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Umberto De Luca as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Mario Novelli as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Claudio Zucchet as Fornac's Man (uncredited)
  • Giuseppe Marrocco as Priest (uncredited)
  • Aldo Formisano as Priest (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 136

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 301
4 to 6011
7 to 902
10 to 1200
13 to 15011
16 to 18022
19 to 2101
22 to 24027
25 to 27011
28 to 30215
31 to 3300
34 to 3608
37 to 39634
40 to 42032
43 to 4504
46 to 4823
49 to 5100
52 to 54018
55 to 57618
58 to 60210
61 to 63210
64 to 66029
67 to 6903
70 to 72310
73 to 7586
76 to 7805
79 to 81025
82 to 84213
85 to 87024
88 to 9009
91 to 9300
94 to 9605
97 to 9900
100 to 10202
103 to 10500
106 to 10807
109 to 11108
112 to 11400
115 to 11700
118 to 12001
121 to 12300
124 to 12600
127 to 12901
130 to 13202
133 to 135010
136 to 13612

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, 8 are women's.

34 lines from women, 400 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

2 women and 25 men in the cast. 1 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 105 of 458. 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 5% of the words (256), men 95% (4,751). Women have 8% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Richard Donner (man)
Written by
Edward Khmara (man), Michael Thomas (man), Tom Mankiewicz (man), David Webb Peoples (man)
Story by
Edward Khmara (man)
Produced by
Richard Donner (man), Lauren Shuler Donner (woman)
Shot by
Vittorio Storaro (man)
Edited by
Stuart Baird (man)
Music by
Andrew Powell (gender not listed)
Production design by
Wolf Kroeger (man)
Costumes by
Nanà Cecchi (woman)
Cast by
Marion Dougherty (woman), Mary Selway (woman), Francesco Cinieri (gender not listed)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    0 women, 6 men, 12 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 5 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 6 men, 4 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    3 women, 0 men, 7 not listed

  • Other crew

    0 women, 8 men, 2 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men, 8 not listed

  • Directing

    0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 26 on average. Men: 42 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Michelle Pfeiffer 26

Men

Matthew Broderick 23, Loris Loddi 27, Alfred Molina 31, Rutger Hauer 41, Ken Hutchison 41, Giancarlo Prete 42, Charles Borromel 52, John Wood 54, Leo McKern 65

Exhibit G: the money

It made 92% of what it cost.

Budget
$20 million
Box office
$18.4 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 136 scenes and 458 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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