Passes the Bechdel test
Living in Oblivion
1995. Directed by Tom DiCillo, written by Tom DiCillo.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 113. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
- Released
- 21 Jul 1995
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 81 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Nick 267 lines, man
- Wanda 150 lines, woman
- Nicole 125 lines, woman
- Palomino 99 lines, man
- Wolf 93 lines, man
- Ac 43 lines
- Cora 36 lines, woman
- Gaffer 35 lines, man
- Sound 32 lines, man
- Tito 20 lines, man
Full cast, 19 people
- Steve Buscemi as Nick Reve
- Catherine Keener as Nicole Springer
- Dermot Mulroney as Wolf
- Danielle von Zerneck as Wanda
- James Le Gros as Chad Palomino
- Peter Dinklage as Tito
- Rica Martens as Cora
- Kevin Corrigan as Assistant Camera
- Robert Wightman as Gaffer
- Michael Griffiths as Sound Mixer / 'Speedo'
- Matthew Grace as Boom Op
- Hilary Gilford as Scripty
- Lori Tan Chinn as Costume Designer
- Norman Fields as Hair / Make-up Artist
- Ryan Bowker as Food Service / Clapper
- Vincenzo Amelia as Cook
- Francesca DiMauro as Production Assistant
- Tom Jarmusch as Driver / Intern
- Laurel Thornby as Nicole's Mother
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 113
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 | 8 |
| 4 to 6 | 11 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 17 | 20 |
| 10 to 12 | 9 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 10 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 5 | 14 |
| 19 to 21 | 10 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 8 | 9 |
| 25 to 27 | 9 | 3 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 9 | 6 |
| 34 to 36 | 9 | 14 |
| 37 to 39 | 8 | 15 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 28 |
| 43 to 45 | 18 | 40 |
| 46 to 48 | 12 | 38 |
| 49 to 51 | 8 | 9 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 22 |
| 55 to 57 | 10 | 25 |
| 58 to 60 | 19 | 33 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 11 |
| 64 to 66 | 19 | 36 |
| 67 to 69 | 12 | 6 |
| 70 to 72 | 9 | 26 |
| 73 to 75 | 20 | 31 |
| 76 to 78 | 16 | 38 |
| 79 to 81 | 3 | 24 |
| 82 to 84 | 8 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 7 | 8 |
| 88 to 90 | 11 | 14 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 3 | 16 |
| 97 to 99 | 9 | 19 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 1 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 113 | 1 | 2 |
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.
NICOLE: Good morning, "Mom." CORA: Morning. NICOLE: Sleep well? CORA: Not a wink.
CORA: I'm so sorry. I'm fucking this up for you. NICOLE: Cora, don't even think that. You're doing great. I'm the one who's fucking it up. If I get through this I swear I'm never acting again.
NICOLE: Oh, God. WANDA: Don't go out that door!
NICOLE: So am I. WANDA: Then who is that? Who is that? Please step off the set! CORA: Hi, Nicky.
NICOLE: I am so hungry. CORA: Oh, I thought this was the TV room.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.
315 lines from women, 550 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
4 women and 9 men in the cast. 3 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 26 of 989.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 34 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 35% of the words (2,938), men 65% (5,508). Women have 36% 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
18
Two men
62
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom DiCillo (man)
- Written by
- Tom DiCillo (man)
- Produced by
- Marcus Viscidi (man), Michael Griffiths (man)
- Shot by
- Frank Prinzi (man)
- Edited by
- Dana Congdon (gender not listed), Camilla Toniolo (woman)
- Music by
- Jim Farmer (gender not listed)
- Production design by
- Thérèse DePrez (woman), Stephanie Carroll (woman)
- Costumes by
- Ellen Lutter (woman)
- Cast by
- Marcia Shulman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 33 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Danielle von Zerneck 28, Catherine Keener 36, Rica Martens 70
Men
Peter Dinklage 26, Kevin Corrigan 26, Dermot Mulroney 31, James Le Gros 33, Steve Buscemi 37, Robert Wightman 42
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $500,000
- Box office
- $1.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 113 scenes and 989 lines of dialogue. How the test works
