Passes the Bechdel test
The Book of Eli
2010. Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, written by Gary Whitta.
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 3 scenes out of 101. -
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.
The film
In a violent post-apocalyptic society, a drifter, Eli (Denzel Washington), has been wandering westward across North America for the last thirty years. He finds solace in a unique book which he carries on his person and guards closely, while surviving by hunting small animals and seeking goods in destroyed houses and vehicles to trade in villages for water and supplies. When he reaches a village ruled by the powerful mobster, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), the man views Eli's impressive fighting skills and offers Eli a place within his gang. Carnegie presses his blind lover Claudia (Jennifer Beals) to send her daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis), to at least convince Eli to spend the night by sleeping with him. However, Eli proves to be the better man when he gently declines her advances. The girl sees Eli's book, and when Carnegie finds out he beats her mother until she reveals what she saw. Carnegie sends his gang into the wasteland to take the book from Eli, but the man proves to be a formidable foe as he makes it more than clear that if they want the book, they must first take his life.
- Released
- 15 Jan 2010
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Eli 251 lines, man
- Solara 153 lines, woman
- Carnegie 127 lines, man
- Redridge 56 lines, man
- Claudia 40 lines, woman
- Engineer 21 lines, man
- Lombardi 16 lines, man
- Martha 14 lines, woman
- George 13 lines, man
- Bandit Leader 12 lines, man
Full cast, 51 people
- Denzel Washington as Eli
- Gary Oldman as Carnegie
- Mila Kunis as Solara
- Ray Stevenson as Redridge
- Jennifer Beals as Claudia
- Michael Gambon as George
- Tom Waits as Engineer
- Frances de la Tour as Martha
- Evan Jones as Martz
- Joe Pingue as Hoyt
- Chris Browning as Highjacker Leader
- Richard Cetrone as Hijacker
- Lateef Crowder as Highjacker / Construction Thug
- Keith Splinter Davis as Hijacker
- Don Thai Theerathada as Hijacker
- Thom Khoury Williams as Hijacker
- Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Young Woman Highjacker
- Scott Wilder as Middle-Aged Man
- Heidi Pascoe as Middle-Aged Woman
- Jennifer Caputo as Biker
- Spencer Sano as Biker / Town Thug
- Eddie Perez as Biker
- Karin Silvestri as Biker
- Mike Gunther as Sniper
- John Koyama as Sniper
- Mike McCarty as Sniper
- Scott Michael Morgan as Construction Thug Leader
- Sala Baker as Construction Thug
- Arron Shiver as Bartender
- Justin Tade as Town Doctor
- Mike Seal as Door Guard
- Richard A. Smith as Orpheum Patron
- Paul Crawford as Town Thug
- Ed Duran as Town Thug
- David Wald as Town Thug
- Jermaine Washington as Town Thug
- Kofi Elam as Convoy Thug
- Clay Donahue Fontenot as Convoy Thug
- Al Goto as Convoy Thug
- Brad Martin as Convoy Thug
- Tim Rigby as Convoy Thug
- Luis Bordonada as Carnegie Gunman #1
- Robert Powell as Carnegie Gunman #2
- Angelique Midthunder as Gatling Gun Gunner
- Todd Schneider as Caddy Driver
- Darrin Prescott as Suburban Driver
- Laurence Chavez as Ice Cream Truck Driver
- Brian Neal Lucero as Alcatraz Guard
- David Midthunder as Alcatraz Soldier
- Josiah D. Lee as Thug (uncredited)
- Malcolm McDowell as Lombardi
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 101
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 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 7 | 31 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 46 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 23 |
| 22 to 24 | 5 | 12 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 23 |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | 43 |
| 31 to 33 | 14 | 26 |
| 34 to 36 | 58 | 63 |
| 37 to 39 | 15 | 19 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 6 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 13 | 33 |
| 49 to 51 | 2 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 14 | 13 |
| 55 to 57 | 14 | 17 |
| 58 to 60 | 15 | 27 |
| 61 to 63 | 17 | 13 |
| 64 to 66 | 8 | 12 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 12 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 to 75 | 10 | 28 |
| 76 to 78 | 15 | 12 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 3 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 13 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 13 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 4 | 7 |
| 97 to 99 | 4 | 3 |
| 100 to 101 | 0 | 5 |
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.
SOLARA: Are these... graves? MARTHA: Of course. It would be uncivilized not to bury them. We're not barbarians.
MARTHA: I found some meat for those sandwiches! Are you hungry? SOLARA: No! Thank you!
MARTHA: I finally got this house just the way I want it. I'm not going to let anybody tear it apart! SOLARA: Where did you get all this stuff?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.
226 lines from women, 539 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 39 men in the cast. 4 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 775.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 79 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (2,020), men 78% (7,264). Women have 30% 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
4
Two men
26
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 17 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Albert Hughes (man), Allen Hughes (man)
- Written by
- Gary Whitta (man)
- Produced by
- Joel Silver (man), Andrew A. Kosove (man), Broderick Johnson (man), Denzel Washington (man), David Valdes (man)
- Shot by
- Don Burgess (man)
- Edited by
- Cindy Mollo (woman)
- Music by
- Atticus Ross (man), Leopold Ross (man), Claudia Sarne (woman)
- Production design by
- Gae S. Buckley (woman)
- Costumes by
- Sharen Davis (woman)
- Cast by
- Mindy Marin (woman), Jo Edna Boldin (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 15 men, 28 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 9 men, 24 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
14 women, 3 men, 19 not listed
-
Other crew
7 women, 10 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 19 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 11 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 7 men, 7 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 10 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 46 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mila Kunis 26, Jennifer Beals 46, Frances de la Tour 65
Men
Evan Jones 33, Joe Pingue 37, Ray Stevenson 45, Gary Oldman 51, Denzel Washington 55, Tom Waits 60, Michael Gambon 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $80 million
- Box office
- $157 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 101 scenes and 775 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
