Fails the Bechdel test
The Damned United
2009. Directed by Tom Hooper, written by Peter Morgan and David Peace.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Taking over England's top football club Leeds United, previously successful manager Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor who has loyally stayed with Brighton & Hove Albion.
- Released
- 27 Mar 2009
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Sport
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 81 / 100
- Awards
- 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Clough 374 lines, man
- Taylor 96 lines, man
- Revie 33 lines, man
- Cussins 25 lines, man
- Jimmy 18 lines, man
- Mitchell 18 lines, man
- Longson 17 lines, man
- Uncle Sam 17 lines, man
- Bremner 16 lines, man
- Mackenzie 15 lines, man
Full cast, 28 people
- Michael Sheen as Brian Clough
- Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor
- Colm Meaney as Don Revie
- Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson
- Maurice Roëves as Jimmy Gordon
- Stephen Graham as Billy Bremner
- Henry Goodman as Manny Cossins
- Mark Bazeley as Austin Mitchell
- Giles Alderson as Colin Todd
- Martin Compston as John O'Hare
- David Roper as Sam Bolton
- Jimmy Reddington as Keith Archer
- Peter McDonald as Johnny Giles
- Oliver Stokes as Nigel Clough
- Ryan Day as Simon Clough
- Ralph Ineson as Journalist
- Elizabeth Carling as Barbara Clough
- Brian McCardie as Dave Mackay
- Sydney Wade as Elizabeth Clough
- Joe Dempsie as Duncan McKenzie
- Mark Cameron as Norman Hunter
- Colin Harris as John McGovern
- Liam Thomas as Les Coker
- Terence Harvey as FA Committee Chairman
- Paul Bown as Mike Bamber
- Gillian Waugh as Lillian Taylor
- Mark Jameson as Groundsman
- Muhammad Ali as archival footage
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 133
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 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 19 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 19 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 25 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 3 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 10 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 17 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 to 39 | 4 | 16 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 21 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 18 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 11 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 7 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 8 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 29 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 14 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 21 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 2 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 28 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 10 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 20 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 38 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 16 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 8 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 18 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 25 |
| 106 to 108 | 4 | 11 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 22 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 29 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 13 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 29 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 13 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 45 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 67 |
| 130 to 132 | 0 | 5 |
| 133 to 133 | 0 | 24 |
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, 2 are women's.
13 lines from women, 714 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 22 men in the cast. 1 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 157 of 804.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 318 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 1% of the words (80), men 99% (9,375). Women have 2% 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
70
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom Hooper (man)
- Written by
- Peter Morgan (man)
- From the novel by
- David Peace (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Lee Morris (man), Andy Harries (man), Grainne Marmion (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Ben Smithard (man)
- Edited by
- Melanie Oliver (woman)
- Music by
- Rob Lane (man)
- Production design by
- Eve Stewart (woman)
- Costumes by
- Mike O'Neill (man)
- Cast by
- Dan Hubbard (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 0 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Men
Martin Compston 24, Giles Alderson 32, Stephen Graham 35, Mark Bazeley 38, Michael Sheen 40, Timothy Spall 52, Colm Meaney 55, Henry Goodman 58, Jim Broadbent 59, Maurice Roëves 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 66% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $6.4 million
- Box office
- $4.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 133 scenes and 804 lines of dialogue. How the test works
