Fails the Bechdel test
The Battle of Algiers
1967. Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, written by Franco Solinas and Gillo Pontecorvo.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
2 women characters. 0 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
A film commissioned by the Algerian government that shows the Algerian revolution from both sides. The French foreign legion has left Vietnam in defeat and has something to prove. The Algerians are seeking independence. The two clash. The torture used by the French is contrasted with the Algerian's use of bombs in soda shops. A look at war as a nasty thing that harms and sullies everyone who participates in it.
- Released
- 20 Sep 1967
- Genres
- Drama, War
- Rated
- Not Rated
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 96 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 9 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mathieu 86 lines, man
- Ali 69 lines, man
- Kader 35 lines, man
- Ben M'Hidi 21 lines, man
- Speaker 19 lines
- Assistant Commissioner 18 lines, man
- Algerian 12 lines, man
- Captain 12 lines
- Hacene 10 lines, man
- Hassiba 10 lines, woman
Full cast, 17 people
- Brahim Hadjadj as Ali La Pointe
- Jean Martin as Colonel Philippe Mathieu
- Yacef Saâdi as El-Hadi Jaffar
- Samia Kerbash as Fathia
- Ugo Paletti as Captain
- Fouzia El Kader as Halima
- Mohamed Ben Kassen as Petit Omar
- Si Mohamed Baghdadi as Larbi Ben M'hidi (uncredited)
- Franco Moruzzi as Mahmoud (uncredited)
- Tomasso Neri as Captain Dubois (uncredited)
- Rouiched as The Drunk Man (uncredited)
- Gene Wesson as (uncredited)
- Hadj Smaine Mohamed Seghir
- Larbi Zekkal as Combattant FLN
- Noureddine Brahimi as Responsable FLN
- Abderrahmane Brahimi as Le Marié de la Casbah
- Fatiha Djoudi as La Mariée de la Casbah
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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, 7 are women's.
24 lines from women, 307 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
2 women and 12 men in the cast. 0 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 32 of 483.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 151 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 3% of the words (148), men 97% (4,752). Women have 7% 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
0
Two men
20
Exhibit E: behind the camera
None of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Gillo Pontecorvo (man)
- Written by
- Franco Solinas (man)
- Story by
- Gillo Pontecorvo (man), Franco Solinas (man)
- Produced by
- Antonio Musu (gender not listed), Yacef Saâdi (man)
- Shot by
- Marcello Gatti (man)
- Edited by
- Mario Morra (man), Mario Serandrei (man)
- Music by
- Ennio Morricone (man), Gillo Pontecorvo (man)
- Production design by
- Sergio Canevari (man)
- Costumes by
- Hanzi Axerio (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Fouzia El Kader 26
Men
Franco Moruzzi 27, Si Mohamed Baghdadi 29, Brahim Hadjadj 32, Yacef Saâdi 38, Jean Martin 44
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $800,000
- Box office
- $964,028
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 483 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
