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Fails the Bechdel test

The Brothers Bloom

2009. Directed by Rian Johnson, written by Rian Johnson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    5 women characters. 2 of them speak.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

Poster for The Brothers Bloom

The film

A pair of brothers - the Blooms, are probably the best con men in the world, Before they get out, they've decided to so one last hustle; as wine and dine an eccentric heiress the time of her life, with a romantic adventure, around the world.

Released
19 Jun 2009
Genres
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
6.7 / 10
Metascore
55 / 100
Awards
3 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Bloom 292 lines, man
  2. Stephen 185 lines, man
  3. Penelope 168 lines, woman
  4. The Curator 40 lines, man
  5. Narrator 36 lines, man
  6. Diamond Dog 14 lines, man
  7. The Turk 8 lines
  8. Rose 7 lines, woman
  9. Charleston 5 lines, man
  10. Girl 5 lines, woman
Full cast, 28 people
  • Adrien Brody as Bloom
  • Rachel Weisz as Penelope Stamp
  • Mark Ruffalo as Stephen
  • Rinko Kikuchi as Bang Bang
  • Robbie Coltrane as Curator
  • Maximilian Schell as Diamond Dog
  • Ricky Jay as Narrator (voice)
  • Nora Zehetner as Rose
  • Zachary Gordon as Young Bloom
  • Max Records as Young Stephen
  • Andy Nyman as Charleston
  • Noah Segan as The Duke
  • Ram Bergman as Himself
  • Craig Johnson as Apple Cart Vendor
  • Dubravko Jovanović as Albino
  • Esme Tyler as Young Girl
  • Jovan Vitas as Young Boy
  • Ana Sofrenović as Charleston's Wife
  • Vladimír Kulhavý as Chief of Police
  • Alek Rodić as Snack Car Attendant
  • Josif Tatić as Oafish Foster Father
  • Slobodan Ćustić as Foster Dad
  • Branka Pujić as Foster Mom
  • George Bocchetti as Excited Boy
  • Elis Derham as Excited Boy
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Bar Patron
  • Lukas Haas as Bar Patron
  • Stefan Kapičić as German Bar Owner (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 228

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 504
6 to 1009
11 to 15015
16 to 2004
21 to 25010
26 to 30411
31 to 3519
36 to 40018
41 to 45817
46 to 50027
51 to 55028
56 to 60117
61 to 651720
66 to 701121
71 to 751122
76 to 80738
81 to 8559
86 to 9055
91 to 951017
96 to 1001215
101 to 10519
106 to 110422
111 to 115020
116 to 12069
121 to 1251014
126 to 13001
131 to 13516
136 to 14003
141 to 14511
146 to 15001
151 to 15526
156 to 16003
161 to 165313
166 to 17056
171 to 175619
176 to 180611
181 to 185416
186 to 190012
191 to 195116
196 to 20012
201 to 20568
206 to 21079
211 to 2151520
216 to 220129
221 to 22556
226 to 22845

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, 24 are women's.

181 lines from women, 583 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 17 men in the cast. 2 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 44 of 791. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 67 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 (1,854), men 80% (7,525). Women have 24% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Rian Johnson (man)
Written by
Rian Johnson (man)
Produced by
James D. Stern (man), Ram Bergman (man)
Shot by
Steve Yedlin (man)
Edited by
Gabriel Wrye (gender not listed)
Music by
Nathan Johnson (man)
Production design by
Jim Clay (man)
Costumes by
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor (woman)
Cast by
Shannon Makhanian (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    4 women, 5 men, 1 not listed

  • Sound

    1 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 2 men, 4 not listed

  • Other crew

    0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 2 men

  • Camera

    0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    1 women, 0 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 32 on average. Men: 43 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Rinko Kikuchi 28, Nora Zehetner 28, Rachel Weisz 39

Men

Zachary Gordon 11, Max Records 11, Adrien Brody 36, Mark Ruffalo 41, Robbie Coltrane 59, Ricky Jay 62, Maximilian Schell 78

Exhibit G: the money

It made 28% of what it cost.

Budget
$20 million
Box office
$5.5 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 228 scenes and 791 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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