Passes the Bechdel test
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1994. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, written by Mary Shelley and Steph Lady and Frank Darabont.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 203. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
In 1794, in the Arctic Sea, Captain Robert Walton is a man obsessed to reach the North Pole, pushing his crew to exhaustion. When his ship hits an iceberg, it is stranded in the ice. Out of the blue, Captain Walton and his men overhear a dreadful cry and they see a stranger coming to the ship. He introduces himself as Victor Frankenstein and he tells the Captain the story of his life since he was a little boy in Geneva. Victor is a barilliant student, and in love with his stepsister Elizabeth, an orphan that was raised by his father Baron Victor von Frankenstein. In 1793, Victor moves to Ingolstadt to study at the university, and he promises to get married to Elizabeth. At the university, Victor befriends Henry Clerval, who becomes his best friend. Victor gets close to Professor Waldman and decides to create life to cheat death, but Waldman advises him that he should not try this experiment, since the result would be an abomination. When Waldman dies, Victor steals his notes and tries to create life. He succeeds and gives life to a strong Creature, composed of parts of deceased people. However, he realizes that his experiment is a mistake and he abandons the Creature, expecting that it will die alone. However the Creature survives and learns how to read and write, but he is a monster rejected by society and his own creator. The Creature decides to seek revenge from Victor by killing everyone he loves.
- Released
- 04 Nov 1994
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 49 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 20 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Victor 202 lines, man
- Creature 80 lines, man
- Elizabeth 76 lines, woman
- Henry 66 lines, man
- Walton 39 lines, man
- Justine 29 lines, woman
- Waldman 27 lines, man
- Father 19 lines, man
- Grandfather 17 lines, man
- Grigori 12 lines, man
Full cast, 55 people
- Robert De Niro as The Creature / Sharp Featured Man
- Kenneth Branagh as Victor Frankenstein
- Tom Hulce as Henry Clerval
- Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth
- Aidan Quinn as Cap. Robert Walton
- Ian Holm as Baron Frankenstein
- Richard Briers as Grandfather
- John Cleese as Prof. Waldman
- Robert Hardy as Prof. Krempe
- Cherie Lunghi as Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein
- Celia Imrie as Mrs. Moritz
- Trevyn McDowell as Justine
- Mark Hadfield as Felix
- Gerard Horan as Claude
- Joanna Roth as Marie
- Alfred Bell as Landlord
- Sasha Hanau as Maggie
- Joseph England as Thomas
- Richard Clifford as Minister
- George Asprey as Policeman
- Hugh Bonneville as Schiller
- Ryan J-W Smith as William
- Charles Wyn-Davies as Young William
- Rory Jennings as Young Victor
- Christina Cuttall as Young Justine
- Hannah Taylor-Gordon as Young Elizabeth
- Susan Field as Frau Brach
- Jimmy Yuill as Greigori
- Chris Barnes as Ship's Crew
- Shaun Prendergast as Ship's Crew
- Tommy Wright as Ship's Crew
- David Kennedy as Ship's Crew
- Paul Gregory as Ship's Crew
- Chris Hollis as Ship's Crew
- Robin Lloyd as Ship's Crew
- Alex Lowe as Ship's Crew
- Graham Loughridge as Ship's Crew
- Simon Cox as Ship's Crew
- Robert Hines as Ship's Crew
- Lonnie James as Rough Woman
- Jenny Galloway as Vendor's Wife
- Peter Jonfield as Rough Man
- Edward Jewesbury as City Official
- Siobhan Redmond as Midwife
- Francine Morgan as Assistant Midwife
- Sue Long as Woman in Labor
- Michael Gould as Stablehand
- Angus Wright as Guard
- Max Gold as Servant
- Abigail Reynolds as Mansion Staff
- Theresa Fresson as Mansion Staff
- Mark Inman as Mansion Staff
- Dudi Appleton as Mansion Staff
- Jim Carter as Executioner (uncredited)
- Meriel Scholfield as Mansion Staff
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 203
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 5 | 0 | 12 |
| 6 to 10 | 1 | 29 |
| 11 to 15 | 6 | 6 |
| 16 to 20 | 9 | 3 |
| 21 to 25 | 36 | 29 |
| 26 to 30 | 1 | 6 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 33 |
| 36 to 40 | 4 | 5 |
| 41 to 45 | 6 | 40 |
| 46 to 50 | 2 | 31 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 17 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 7 |
| 66 to 70 | 8 | 0 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 5 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 17 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 1 |
| 86 to 90 | 2 | 1 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 3 |
| 96 to 100 | 3 | 20 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 110 | 4 | 8 |
| 111 to 115 | 4 | 15 |
| 116 to 120 | 3 | 3 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 25 |
| 126 to 130 | 0 | 3 |
| 131 to 135 | 8 | 18 |
| 136 to 140 | 7 | 4 |
| 141 to 145 | 2 | 6 |
| 146 to 150 | 10 | 8 |
| 151 to 155 | 7 | 6 |
| 156 to 160 | 3 | 47 |
| 161 to 165 | 4 | 15 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 7 |
| 171 to 175 | 4 | 26 |
| 176 to 180 | 4 | 11 |
| 181 to 185 | 1 | 7 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 1 |
| 191 to 195 | 1 | 22 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 23 |
| 201 to 203 | 0 | 12 |
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.
ELIZABETH: She'll be all right. MRS. MORITZ: You can do nothing here. Wait downstairs.
MAGGIE: ff..reh..nn..nd. Friend? Friend. MARIE: Good! And now the next
MRS. MORITZ: Justine! Pay attention! JUSTINE: Yes, Mother. ELIZABETH: Are you all right? JUSTINE: Fine.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 21 are women's.
140 lines from women, 533 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 33 men in the cast. 7 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 55 of 710.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 54 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 20% of the words (1,287), men 80% (5,273). Women have 21% 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
11
Two men
51
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kenneth Branagh (man)
- Written by
- Frank Darabont (man), Steph Lady (gender not listed)
- From the novel by
- Mary Shelley (woman)
- Produced by
- Francis Ford Coppola (man), James V. Hart (man), John Veitch (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Pratt (man)
- Edited by
- Andrew Marcus (man)
- Music by
- Patrick Doyle (man)
- Production design by
- Tim Harvey (man)
- Costumes by
- James Acheson (man)
- Cast by
- Priscilla John (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 12 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 8 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
1 women, 8 men
-
Camera
1 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 6 men
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Helena Bonham Carter 28, Cherie Lunghi 42
Men
Kenneth Branagh 33, Aidan Quinn 35, Tom Hulce 40, Robert De Niro 51, John Cleese 55, Richard Briers 60, Ian Holm 63, Robert Hardy 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $45 million
- Box office
- $112 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 203 scenes and 710 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
