Fails the Bechdel test
The Departed
2006. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by William Monahan and Alan Mak and Felix Chong.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 4 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
The Massachusetts State Police is desperate to crack down on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by Frank Costello. While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan, a protege of Costello who has infiltrated the state police as an informant for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by their double lives, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations they have penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there is a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy, and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save themselves.
- Released
- 06 Oct 2006
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 85 / 100
- Awards
- Won 4 Oscars. 100 wins & 141 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Colin 244 lines, man
- Billy 241 lines, man
- Costello 156 lines, man
- Madolyn 104 lines, woman
- Queenan 70 lines, man
- Ellerby 51 lines, man
- Dignam 42 lines, man
- Mister French 41 lines, man
- Brown 22 lines, man
- Sgt. Dignam 21 lines, man
Full cast, 102 people
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy
- Matt Damon as Colin
- Jack Nicholson as Costello
- Mark Wahlberg as Dignam
- Martin Sheen as Queenan
- Ray Winstone as Mr. French
- Vera Farmiga as Madolyn
- Anthony Anderson as Brown
- Alec Baldwin as Ellerby
- Kevin Corrigan as Cousin Sean
- James Badge Dale as Barrigan
- David O'Hara as Fitzy
- Mark Rolston as Delahunt
- Robert Wahlberg as Lazio (FBI)
- Kristen Dalton as Gwen
- Thomas B. Duffy as Govenor
- Richard Hughes as Uncle Edward
- J.C. MacKenzie as Realtor
- Mary Klug as Billy's Aunt
- Peg Holzemer as Mrs. Kennefick
- Robert 'Toshi' Kar Yuen Chan as Triad Boss
- Gurdeep Singh as Pakistani Proprietor
- Armen Garo as Providence Gangster #1
- John Cenatiempo as Providence Gangster #2
- Joseph Riccobene as Kneecapped Bankrobber
- Billy Smith as Detective #1 Tailing Queenan
- Lyman Chen as Translator
- Kevin P. McCarthy as Detective #1 - Colin's Unit
- Chris Fischer as Detective #2 - Colin's Unit
- Brian Smyj as Man Glassed in Bar
- William Severs as Older Priest
- Larry Mitchell as Younger Priest
- Anthony Estrella as Police Camera Tech
- Andrew Breving as Police Cell Phone Tech
- Tracey Paleo as Darlene the Secretary
- Douglas Crosby as Man Killed by French
- Dorothy Lyman as Woman at Bar #1
- Audrie Neenan as Woman at Bar #2
- Frank Mallicoat as News Anchor
- Paula DeMers as Billy's Mother
- Conor Donovan as Young Colin
- Amanda Lynch as Carmen
- Sallie Toussaint as Woman at Opera
- Patrick Coppola as Bookie Harassed by French
- Mick O'Rourke as Jimmy Bags
- Deborah Carlson as Sister Mary Theresa
- Nellie Sciutto as Queenan's Secretary
- Peter Welch as Other Prisoner
- Henry Yuk as Chinese Government Man
- Dennis Lynch as Costello's Crew #1
- Michael Byron as Costello's Crew #2
- William Lee as Costello's Crew #3
- John Rue as Luncheonette Proprietor
- Peter Crafts as Man in Costello's Bar
- Joseph P. Reidy as Priest w/ Young Colin
- John Farrer as Priest at Billy's Funeral
- Paris Karounos as Jimmy Pappas
- Brian Haley as Detective #2 Tailing Queenan
- Terry Serpico as Detective #3 Tailing Queenan
- Jay Giannone as Detective #4 Tailing Queenan
- John Polce as Lynn Detective
- Bo Cleary as Drill Instructor #2 (voice)
- David Conley as Gang Member with Mr. French
- Victor Chan as Chinese Delivery Man
- Jill Brown as Executed Woman
- Sarah Fearon as French's Wife
- Denece Ryland as Woman Doctor
- Daniel F. Risteen, Jr. as Crack House Cop #1
- Francis P. Hughes as Crack House Cop #2
- Johnny Cicco as Crack Addict
- Chance Kelly as Exam Instructor
- Shay Duffin as Bartender at Brasserie
- John McConnell as Bookie in Costello's Bar
- Kenneth Stoddard as State Trooper #1
- Jeffrey Winter as State Trooper #2
- Paddy Curran as New Guy
- Mark Philip Patrick as New Guy
- David Fischer as Executed Man
- Walter Y.F. Wong as Waiter in Alley
- Tony M. Yee as Waiter in Alley
- Francesca Scorsese as Little Girl at Airport
- Alex Morris as Young Man at Airport
- Emma Tillinger Koskoff as Woman with Dog
- Craig Castaldo as Crack House Denizen
- Takumi Bando as Triad (uncredited)
- Eric Bruno Borgman as Reporter (uncredited)
- Brendan Burke as Irish Thug (uncredited)
- Chris Chinn as Gang Member (uncredited)
- Jeffrey Corazzini as Crime Scene Unit (uncredited)
- Jim Ford as Cadet (uncredited)
- Trudi Goodman as Woman Office Worker (uncredited)
- Steve Lord as Academy Pistol Coach (uncredited)
- Jack McCullough as EMT (uncredited)
- Osmani Rodriguez as Reporter (uncredited)
- Lawrence Cameron Steele as Academy Firearms Instructor (uncredited)
- Conor Timmis as Rugby Fan (uncredited)
- Joseph Oliveira as Officer (uncredited)
- Adam Masnyk as Southie Teen / Soccer Player (uncredited)
- John Franchi as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Paul McGillicuddy as Subway Passenger (uncredited)
- Kim Carrell as MA State Police Detective
- Rebecca Love as Adult Film Actress (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 209
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 | 0 | 19 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 18 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 8 |
| 21 to 25 | 2 | 32 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 33 |
| 31 to 35 | 1 | 19 |
| 36 to 40 | 2 | 21 |
| 41 to 45 | 3 | 51 |
| 46 to 50 | 9 | 22 |
| 51 to 55 | 12 | 51 |
| 56 to 60 | 1 | 30 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 3 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 16 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 49 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 63 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 6 |
| 86 to 90 | 27 | 43 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 32 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 22 |
| 101 to 105 | 19 | 54 |
| 106 to 110 | 9 | 29 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 37 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 28 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 0 |
| 126 to 130 | 13 | 14 |
| 131 to 135 | 0 | 60 |
| 136 to 140 | 4 | 19 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 10 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 9 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 12 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 7 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 6 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 4 |
| 171 to 175 | 5 | 52 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 21 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 12 |
| 186 to 190 | 1 | 23 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 17 |
| 196 to 200 | 10 | 19 |
| 201 to 205 | 0 | 43 |
| 206 to 209 | 0 | 3 |
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, 10 are women's.
118 lines from women, 1027 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
15 women and 59 men in the cast. 4 women and 34 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 61 of 1,186.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 157 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (872), men 93% (12,198). Women have 10% 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
87
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Martin Scorsese (man)
- Written by
- William Monahan (man)
- Produced by
- Graham King (man), Brad Pitt (man), Brad Grey (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Ballhaus (man)
- Edited by
- Thelma Schoonmaker (woman)
- Music by
- Howard Shore (man)
- Production design by
- Kristi Zea (woman)
- Costumes by
- Sandy Powell (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Lewis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 14 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 6 men
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Vera Farmiga 33
Men
Leonardo DiCaprio 31, Matt Damon 35, Mark Wahlberg 35, Anthony Anderson 36, Kevin Corrigan 37, Alec Baldwin 48, Ray Winstone 49, Martin Sheen 66, Jack Nicholson 69
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $90 million
- Box office
- $291 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 209 scenes and 1,186 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
