Fails the Bechdel test

Snow Falling on Cedars

Name: Snow Falling on Cedars
Released: 2000

2000. Directed by Scott Hicks, written by David Guterson and Ron Bass and Scott Hicks.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 7 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

It's 1950 on San Pedro Island in the American Pacific Northwest. Commercial fisher Carl Heine Jr.'s dead body is pulled out of the water in a fishing net by his crew, he who died of head trauma. Kazuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. Carl and Kazuo were once friends, had known each other since childhood, but WWII has placed a strain on any sort of relationship between the ethic Japanese and Caucasian populations of the area, the Japanese population which was and is still substantial on the island. Carl had motive regarding a land dispute between the two families, land which Carl's mother eventually sold from under the Miyamotos and which Carl had just repurchased. Evidence also points to Kazuo being on the water with Carl probably sometime during his last voyage, evidence which Kazuo knew would put him in a bad light, adding on top of being Japanese, and thus decided not to disclose to the investigating sheriff at the time he was questioned. Kazuo and his wife Hatsue's fear come to realization in that there are racist overtones to the questioning by the prosecutor, Alvin Hooks, in playing to existing anti-Japanese sentiment. Among the many locals following the proceedings is Ishmael Chambers, the owner/editor of the local newspaper, he who took it over following the passing of his father, the previous owner Arthur Chambers. Arthur was one of the few Caucasians on the island who came to the defense of the local Japanese during their internment because of the war. Ishmael, a veteran who lost his left arm in battle, has more personal than professional interest in the case as he has been in love with Hatsue since they were in their youth. Hatsue broke off their clandestine romance to marry Kazuo, Ishmael not knowing out of pressure from her mother to marry within their own culture. It is his feelings for Hatsue that Ishmael has his own motives for wanting to find out the truth of what happened to Carl.

Released: 07 Jan 2000
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 44 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Ishmael 275 lines, man
Nels 201 lines, man
Hooks 117 lines, man
Hatsue 105 lines, woman
Kabuo 92 lines, man
Moran 77 lines, man
Etta 33 lines, woman
Carl 23 lines, man
Fujiko 23 lines, woman
Judge 21 lines

Full cast, 56 people

Ethan Hawke as Ishmael Chambers
Youki Kudoh as Hatsue Miyamoto
Reeve Carney as Young Ishmael Chambers
Anne Suzuki as Young Hatsue Imada
Rick Yune as Kazuo Miyamoto
Max von Sydow as Nels Gudmundsson
James Rebhorn as Alvin Hooks
James Cromwell as Judge Fielding
Richard Jenkins as Sheriff Art Moran
Arija Bareikis as Susan Marie Heine
Eric Thal as Carl Heine Jr.
Celia Weston as Etta Heine
Daniel von Bargen as Carl Heine Sr.
Akira Takayama as Hisao Imada
Аko as Fujiko Imada
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Zenhichi Miyamoto
Zak Orth as Deputy Abel Martinson
Max Wright as Horace Whaley
Sam Shepard as Arthur Chambers
Caroline Kava as Helen Chambers
Jan Rubeš as Ole Jurgensen
Sheila Moore as Liesel Jurgensen
Željko Ivanek as Dr. Whitman
Seiji Inouye as Young Kazuo Miyamoto
Saemi Nakamura as Sumiko Imada
Mika Fujii as Yukiko Imada
Dwight McFee as Bus Driver
Bill Harper as Levant
Henry O as Nagaishi
Myles Ferguson as German Soldier
Noah Heney as Ship's Doctor
John Destry as Bailiff
A. Arthur Takemoto as Buddhist Priest
Ken Takemoto as Monk
Larry Musser as Gas Station Attendant
Jamie Kang as Singing Girl
Lili Marshall as Strawberry Girl
Lisa Mena as Strawberry Woman
Jethro Heysen-Hicks as Parade Boy with Stick
Tom Heaton as Juror
Frank C. Turner as Juror
Marilyn Norry as Juror
Peter Crook as Fisherman
Ron Snyder as Fisherman
Mark Farrell as Fisherman
Jay Brazeau as Reporter
Tom Scholte as Reporter
Timothy Burd as Reporter
Gareth Williams as FBI Agent
Anthony Harrison as FBI Agent
Adam Pospíšil as Heine Child
John Brynelsen as Heine Child
Sean Akira as Man in the Courtroom (uncredited)
Bart Anderson as Principal (uncredited)
Barry Brandt as Marine (uncredited)
Robert J. Burke Jr. as Tarawa Marine (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 111

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	8
7 to 9	2	12
10 to 12	4	10
13 to 15	0	67
16 to 18	2	46
19 to 21	4	5
22 to 24	8	4
25 to 27	2	21
28 to 30	8	15
31 to 33	5	5
34 to 36	12	14
37 to 39	16	18
40 to 42	1	16
43 to 45	1	4
46 to 48	4	43
49 to 51	5	13
52 to 54	12	3
55 to 57	5	23
58 to 60	19	3
61 to 63	3	10
64 to 66	0	9
67 to 69	0	21
70 to 72	0	61
73 to 75	0	24
76 to 78	2	3
79 to 81	13	23
82 to 84	5	11
85 to 87	11	26
88 to 90	14	15
91 to 93	28	63
94 to 96	0	45
97 to 99	0	60
100 to 102	10	52
103 to 105	0	104
106 to 108	3	39
109 to 111	2	12

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, 18 are women's.

201 lines from women, 908 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

9 women and 34 men in the cast. 7 women and 21 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 13 of 1,187. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 220 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (2,309), men 83% (10,907). Women have 18% 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

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Scott Hicks (man)
Written by: Scott Hicks (man), Ronald Bass (man)
From the novel by: David Guterson (man)
Produced by: Ronald Bass (man), Harry J. Ufland (man), Kathleen Kennedy (woman), Frank Marshall (man)
Shot by: Robert Richardson (man)
Edited by: Hank Corwin (man)
Music by: James Newton Howard (man)
Production design by: Jeannine Oppewall (woman)
Costumes by: Renee Ehrlich Kalfus (woman)
Cast by: David Rubin (man)