Passes the Bechdel test

The American

Name: The American
Released: 2010

2010. Directed by Anton Corbijn, written by Rowan Joffe and Martin Booth.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 169.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

Alone among assassins, Jack is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Pavel that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde, is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto and pursues romance with local woman Clara. But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

Released: 01 Sep 2010
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Jack 292 lines, man
Clara 137 lines, woman
Mathilde 85 lines, woman
Father Benedetto 73 lines, man
Larry 52 lines, man
Ingrid 11 lines, woman
Fabio 8 lines, man
Waiter 8 lines, man
Anna 7 lines, woman
Postmaster 5 lines, man

Full cast, 21 people

George Clooney as Jack / Edward
Violante Placido as Clara
Thekla Reuten as Mathilde
Paolo Bonacelli as Father Benedetto
Johan Leysen as Pavel
Irina Björklund as Ingrid
Lars Hjelm as Hunter #1
Björn Granath as Hunter #2
Giorgio Gobbi as Man on Vespa
Silvana Bosi as Old Cheese Vendor
Guido Palliggiano as Waiter (Market)
Samuli Vauramo as Young Swedish Man
Antonio Rampino as Postmaster
Filippo Timi as Fabio
Ilaria Cramerotti as Hooker #2
Angelica Novak as Hooker #3
Isabelle Adriani as Hooker #1
Lello Serao as Barman (Town Square Bar)
Anna Foglietta as Anna
Sandro Dori as Waiter (Locanda Grapelli)
Patrizio Pelizzi as Antonio/ Ferroviere

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 169

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 4	2	1
5 to 8	8	2
9 to 12	0	19
13 to 16	0	0
17 to 20	0	0
21 to 24	0	0
25 to 28	0	7
29 to 32	0	39
33 to 36	0	0
37 to 40	21	24
41 to 44	0	0
45 to 48	1	10
49 to 52	0	26
53 to 56	0	18
57 to 60	0	0
61 to 64	0	0
65 to 68	2	2
69 to 72	0	14
73 to 76	13	8
77 to 80	34	28
81 to 84	5	1
85 to 88	7	5
89 to 92	0	18
93 to 96	0	0
97 to 100	0	0
101 to 104	0	0
105 to 108	6	5
109 to 112	2	6
113 to 116	23	19
117 to 120	16	58
121 to 124	24	26
125 to 128	0	17
129 to 132	6	5
133 to 136	26	19
137 to 140	19	27
141 to 144	5	4
145 to 148	9	3
149 to 152	4	9
153 to 156	0	0
157 to 160	16	17
161 to 164	0	5
165 to 168	0	0
169 to 169	0	0

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

CLARA: Locanda Grapelli! Si! ANNA: This is the best food in the area.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.

249 lines from women, 442 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 12 men in the cast. 4 women and 5 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 68 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 28% of the words (1,505), men 72% (3,931). 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Anton Corbijn (man)
Written by: Rowan Joffé (man)
From the novel by: Martin Booth (gender not listed)
Produced by: George Clooney (man), Jill Green (woman), Anne Carey (woman), Grant Heslov (man), Ann Wingate (woman)
Shot by: Martin Ruhe (man)
Edited by: Andrew Hulme (man)
Music by: Herbert Grönemeyer (man)
Production design by: Mark Digby (man)
Costumes by: Suttirat Anne Larlarb (woman), Cristina Tucci (gender not listed)
Cast by: Béatrice Kruger (woman)