Passes the Bechdel test
Lost in Translation
2003. Directed by Sofia Coppola, written by Sofia Coppola.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 120. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
Middle-aged American movie star Bob Harris is in Tokyo to film a personal endorsement Suntory whiskey ad solely for the Japanese market. He is past his movie star prime, but his name and image still have enough cachet for him to have gotten this lucrative $2 million job. He has an unsatisfying home life where his wife Lydia follows him wherever he goes - in the form of messages and faxes - for him to deal with the minutiae of their everyday lives, while she stays at home to look after their kids. Staying at the same upscale hotel is fellow American, twenty-something recent Yale Philosophy graduate Charlotte, her husband John, an entertainment still photographer, who is on assignment in Japan. As such, she is largely left to her own devices in the city, especially when his job takes him out of Tokyo. Both Bob and Charlotte are feeling lost by their current situations, which are not helped by the cultural barriers they feel in Tokyo, those cultural barriers extending far beyond just not knowing the language. After a few chance encounters in the hotel, they end up spending much of their time hanging out together, each helping the other deal with their feelings of loss in their current lives. The friendship that develops between the two, which is not always a bump-free one, may be just for this specific place and time, but it may also have long lasting implications.
- Released
- 03 Oct 2003
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 91 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 98 wins & 133 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bob 158 lines, man
- Charlotte 142 lines, woman
- John 38 lines, man
- Lydia 29 lines, woman
- Kelly 13 lines, woman
- Woman 13 lines, woman
- Reception 8 lines
- Elaine 6 lines
- Translator 6 lines
- Bambi 4 lines
Full cast, 51 people
- Bill Murray as Bob Harris
- Scarlett Johansson as Charlotte
- Giovanni Ribisi as John
- Anna Faris as Kelly
- Akiko Takeshita as Ms. Kawasaki
- Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe as Press Agent
- Kazuko Shibata as Press Agent
- Take as Press Agent
- Ryuichiro Baba as Concierge
- Akira Yamaguchi as Bellboy
- Catherine Lambert as Jazz Singer
- François du Bois as Sausalito Piano
- Tim Leffman as Sausalito Guitar
- Gregory Pekar as American Businessman #1
- Richard Allen as American Businessman #2
- Diamond Yukai as Commercial Director
- Jun Maki as Suntory Client
- Nao Asuka as Premium Fantasy Woman
- Tetsuro Nakagawa as Stills Photographer
- Kanako Nakazato as Makeup Person
- Fumihiro Hayashi as Charlie
- Hiroko Kawasaki as Hiroko
- Daikon as Bambie
- Asuka Shimuzu as Kelly's Translator
- Ikuko Takahashi as Ikebana Instructor
- Koichi Tanaka as Bartender (NY Bar)
- Hugo Codaro as Aerobics Instructor
- Akiko Monou as P Chan
- Akimitsu Naruyama as French Japanese Club Patron
- Hiroshi Kawashima as Bartender (Nightclub)
- Hiromix as Hiromix
- Nobuhiko Kitamura as Nobu
- Nao Kitman as Nao
- Akira as Hans
- Kunichi Nomura as Kun
- Yasuhiko Hattori as Charlie's Friend
- Shigekazu Aida as Mr. Valentine
- Kazuo Yamada as Hospital Receptionist
- Akira Motomura as Old Man
- Osamu Shigematu as Doctor
- Takashi Fujii as TV Host
- Kei Takyo as TV Translator
- Ryo Kondo as Politician
- Yumi Ikeda as Politician's Aide
- Yumika Saki as Politician's Aide
- Yuji Okabe as Politician's Aide
- Dietrich Bollmann as German Hotel Guest
- Georg O.P. Eschert as German Hotel Guest
- Mark Willms as Carl West
- Lisle Wilkerson as Sexy Businesswoman
- Nancy Steiner as Lydia Harris (voice) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, 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 120
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 13 | 11 |
| 16 to 18 | 3 | 6 |
| 19 to 21 | 3 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 14 | 14 |
| 28 to 30 | 15 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 3 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 7 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 11 | 8 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 17 | 17 |
| 55 to 57 | 5 | 5 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 1 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 8 | 6 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 27 | 26 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 8 | 9 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 6 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 12 | 12 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 3 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 2 |
| 106 to 108 | 14 | 13 |
| 109 to 111 | 10 | 7 |
| 112 to 114 | 6 | 2 |
| 115 to 117 | 8 | 12 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 4 |
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.
CHARLOTTE: Yeah, it is. KELLY: ...Oh my god you have to try it, this power cleanse is amazing- it's lemon juice and grade B maple syrup and cayenne pepper for seven days. … CHARLOTTE: Hi again, how's it going?
NEW SINGER: Good Evening. I'm Carl West, and we're thrilled to be joining you this week, here at the NY bar in Shinjuku. SINGER: Jt seems we stood and talked like this before, we looked at each other in the same way thenr but I cant remember where or when...
CHARLOTTE: I don't know, it just doesn't, reality changes things....we can't stay here forever, unless maybe we started a Jazz band. SINGER: Somethings that happen for the first time, seem to be happening again and so it seems we have met before, and laughed before, and loved befo…
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 50 are women's.
206 lines from women, 208 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 19 men in the cast. 7 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 17 of 455.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 16 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 58% of the words (1,879), men 42% (1,362). Women have 50% 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
5
Two men
4
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sofia Coppola (woman)
- Written by
- Sofia Coppola (woman)
- Produced by
- Ross Katz (man), Sofia Coppola (woman)
- Shot by
- Lance Acord (man)
- Edited by
- Sarah Flack (woman)
- Music by
- Kevin Shields (gender not listed)
- Production design by
- K.K. Barrett (man), Anne Ross (woman)
- Costumes by
- Nancy Steiner (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
3 women, 13 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Scarlett Johansson 18, Anna Faris 26, Akiko Takeshita 44
Men
Giovanni Ribisi 28, Bill Murray 52
Exhibit H: the money
It made 29.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $120 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 455 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
