Fails the Bechdel test

The Deer Hunter

Name: The Deer Hunter
Released: 1979

1979. Directed by Michael Cimino, written by Michael Cimino and Deric Washburn and Louis Garfinkle.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 6 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

Michael, Steven, and Nick are three best friends who enjoy going deer hunting quite often. They get enlisted to head to Vietnam to fight for their country and celebrate with a farewell party, as well as Steven marrying a pregnant woman named Angela. After the horrors during the war and edge-grabbing games of Russian Roulette that they are forced to play, Michael returns home and realizes that his deer hunting outings aren't the same as they used to be, because of the war and he eventually finds out that Steven is handicapped and Nick hasn't returned from Vietnam, and in response, he heads back there to rescue him.

Released: 23 Feb 1979
Genres: Drama, War
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.1 / 10
Metascore: 90 / 100
Awards: Won 5 Oscars. 24 wins & 27 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Nick 238 lines, man
Merle 111 lines, man
Vince 93 lines, man
Albert 65 lines, man
Sal 56 lines, man
Linda 49 lines, woman
John 39 lines, man
Colonel 16 lines
Angela 14 lines, woman
Armand 14 lines, man

Full cast, 51 people

Robert De Niro as Michael Vronsky
Christopher Walken as Nikanor "Nick" Chevotarevich
John Cazale as Stan
John Savage as Steven Pushkov
Meryl Streep as Linda
George Dzundza as John
Rutanya Alda as Angela
Pierre Segui as Julien
Amy Wright as Bridesmaid
Richard Kuss as Linda's Father
Joe Grifasi as Bandleader
Dennis Watlington as Cab Driver
Shirley Stoler as Steven's Mother
Chuck Aspegren as Axel
Mary Ann Haenel as Stan's Girl
Mady Kaplan as Axel's Girl
Paul D'Amato as Sergeant
Christopher Colombi Jr. as Wedding Man
Victoria Karnafel as Sad Looking Girl
Jack Scardino as Cold Old Man
Joe Strnad as Bingo Caller
Helen Tomko as Helen
Charlene Darrow as Red Head
Jane-Colette Disko as Girl Checker
Michael Wollet as Stock Boy
Robert Beard as World War Veteran
Joe Dzizmba as World War Veteran
Stephen Kopestonsky as Priest
John F. Buchmelter III as Bar Patron
Frank Devore as Barman
Tom Becker as Doctor
Lynn Kongkham as Nurse
Nongnuj Timruang as Bar Girl
Po Pao Pee as Chinese Referee
Dale Burroughs as Embassy Guard
Parris Hicks as Sergeant
Samui Muang-Intata as Chinese Bodyguard
Sapox Colisium as Chinese Man
Vitoon Winwitoon as NVA Officer
Somsak Sengvilai as V.C. Referee
Charan Nusvanon as Chinese Boss
Jiam Gongtongsmoot as Chinese Man At Door
Chai Peyawan as South Vietnamese Prisoner
Mana Hansa as South Vietnamese Prisoner
Sombot Jumpanoi as South Vietnamese Prisoner
Phip Manee as Woman In Village
Ding Santos as V.C. Guard
Krieng Chaiyapuk as V.C. Guard
Ot Palapoo as V.C. Guard
Chok Chai Mahasoke as V.C. Guard
Joel Thingvall as Steel Worker (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 217

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 5	4	2
6 to 10	0	27
11 to 15	5	3
16 to 20	2	4
21 to 25	19	50
26 to 30	0	4
31 to 35	5	7
36 to 40	0	41
41 to 45	0	11
46 to 50	0	18
51 to 55	0	21
56 to 60	0	45
61 to 65	0	0
66 to 70	0	0
71 to 75	0	3
76 to 80	0	0
81 to 85	0	45
86 to 90	0	21
91 to 95	0	13
96 to 100	0	1
101 to 105	9	10
106 to 110	0	34
111 to 115	0	12
116 to 120	0	0
121 to 125	15	11
126 to 130	16	79
131 to 135	4	0
136 to 140	5	42
141 to 145	0	6
146 to 150	0	8
151 to 155	0	24
156 to 160	0	19
161 to 165	5	7
166 to 170	0	0
171 to 175	0	0
176 to 180	0	36
181 to 185	0	11
186 to 190	0	1
191 to 195	2	2
196 to 200	0	6
201 to 205	0	3
206 to 210	0	23
211 to 215	0	0
216 to 217	1	4

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, 12 are women's.

92 lines from women, 654 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 11 men in the cast. 6 women and 5 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 239 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 14% of the words (846), men 86% (5,379). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 14 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 15% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Michael Cimino (man)
Written by: Deric Washburn (man)
Story by: Louis Garfinkle (man), Deric Washburn (man), Quinn K. Redeker (man), Michael Cimino (man)
Produced by: Barry Spikings (man), Michael Deeley (man), Michael Cimino (man), John Peverall (man)
Shot by: Vilmos Zsigmond (man)
Edited by: Peter Zinner (man)
Music by: Stanley Myers (man)
Cast by: Cis Corman (woman)