Passes the Bechdel test
Light Sleeper
1992. Directed by Paul Schrader, written by Paul Schrader.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
A drug dealer with upscale clientele is having moral problems going about his daily deliveries. A reformed addict, he has never gotten over the wife that left him, and the couple that use him for deliveries worry about his mental well-being and his effectiveness at his job. Meanwhile someone is killing women in apparently drug-related incidents.
- Released
- 13 Mar 1992
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 70 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Letour 347 lines, man
- Ann 113 lines, woman
- Robert 65 lines, man
- Marianne 62 lines, woman
- Teresa 32 lines, woman
- Tis 28 lines, man
- Randi 26 lines, woman
- Eddie 16 lines, man
- Manuel 16 lines, man
- Guidone 14 lines, man
Full cast, 28 people
- Willem Dafoe as John LeTour
- Susan Sarandon as Ann
- Dana Delany as Marianne Jost
- David Clennon as Robert
- Mary Beth Hurt as Teresa Aranow
- Victor Garber as Tis Brooke
- Jane Adams as Randi Jost
- Sam Rockwell as Jealous
- David Spade as Theological Cokehead
- Paul Jabara as Eddie
- Robert Cicchini as Bill Guidone
- Rene Rivera as Manuel
- Steven Posen as Hasid
- Ken Ladd as Carlos
- Brian Judge as Thomas
- Vince Cupone as Young Cuban
- Tatiana von Fürstenberg as French girl
- Paul Stocker as Maitre D'
- Chris Northup as Retro Yuppie
- Bernadette Jurkowski as French Girl
- James Saxenmeyer as Bar Patron
- Esteban Fernández as Concierge
- Timothy Stickney as Young Dominican
- Joe Gironda as Funeral Home Employee
- Heather Rose Dominic as Crackhead
- Peter Macklin as Baseball Card Fan
- Ronald Sylvers as Prison Guard
- Daniel Margotta as Drug Dealer (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
TERESA: I see a glow. Everything you need is around you. The only danger is inside you. ANN: Your pay's on the table.
MARIANNE: One of us has to be here. RANDI: The hospital lets us stay in her room.
RANDI: You go, Marianne, it's my turn with mom. MARIANNE: I shouldn't. RANDI: Go. You haven't eaten. Go on. Go on. MARIANNE: I...
RANDI: Oh. I'd better get back. Marianne's probably flipping out. ANN: Have some shu mai. Just delivered.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
233 lines from women, 504 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 15 men in the cast. 4 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 770.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 84 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 37% of the words (2,485), men 63% (4,152). Women have 32% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
6
Two men
35
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 50% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Paul Schrader (man)
- Written by
- Paul Schrader (man)
- Produced by
- G. Mac Brown (man), Linda Reisman (woman)
- Shot by
- Edward Lachman (man)
- Edited by
- Kristina Boden (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Been (man)
- Production design by
- Richard Hornung (man)
- Costumes by
- Richard Hornung (man)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 2 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 0 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jane Adams 27, Dana Delany 36, Susan Sarandon 45, Mary Beth Hurt 45
Men
Sam Rockwell 23, David Spade 28, Willem Dafoe 37, Victor Garber 43, Paul Jabara 44, David Clennon 49
Exhibit H: the money
It made 21% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $1.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 770 lines of dialogue. How the test works
