Fails the Bechdel test

The Happy Prince

Name: The Happy Prince
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Rupert Everett, written by Rupert Everett.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 3 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

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

In a cheap Parisian hotel room Oscar Wilde lies on his death bed. The past floods back, taking him to other times and places. Was he once the most famous man in London? The artist crucified by a society that once worshipped him? Under the microscope of death he reviews the failed attempt to reconcile with his long suffering wife Constance, the ensuing reprisal of his fatal love affair with Lord Alfred Douglas and the warmth and devotion of Robbie Ross, who tried and failed to save him from himself. Travelling through Wilde's final act and journeys through England, France and Italy, the transience of lust is laid bare and the true riches of love are revealed. It is a portrait of the dark side of a genius who lived and died for love.

Released: 10 Oct 2018
Genres: Biography, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 64 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 15 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Oscar 217 lines, man
Robbie 82 lines, man
Bosie 64 lines, man
Reggie 46 lines, man
Oscar V.O 20 lines, man
Constance 19 lines, woman
Jean 19 lines, man
Fr. Dunne 11 lines, man
Leon 11 lines, man
Woman 9 lines, woman

Full cast, 56 people

Rupert Everett as Oscar Wilde
Colin Firth as Reggie Turner
Emily Watson as Constance Wilde
Colin Morgan as Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas
Edwin Thomas as Robbie Ross
Franca Abategiovanni as Felice's Mother
Alister Cameron as Mr. Howard
Anna Chancellor as Mrs. Arbuthnott
Béatrice Dalle as Café Concert Manager
Tom Colley as Maurice Gilbert
Johanna Kirby as Nurse
André Penvern as Monsieur Dupoirier
Ronald Pickup as Judge
Matteo Salamone as Leon
Antonio Spagnuolo as Felice
John Standing as Dr. Tucker
Benjamin Voisin as Jean
Tom Wilkinson as Father Dunne
Julian Wadham as Mr. Arbuthnott
Caterina D'Andrea as Carmela
Manu Asencio as Hotel Sandwich Bellboy
Jean-Luc Bubert as Man with Tart
Oliver Cater as Cyril Holland Aged 11
Cyril Cordonnier as Café de la Paix Waiter
Thierry de Coster as Henri the Waiter
Eleonora Costadura as Felice's Wife
Jacky Druaux as Hotel Sandwich Manager
Laurent D'Elia as Rouen Station Announcer
Raffaele Gargiulo as Michela
Patrick Hannaway as Burly Man
Aaron Henke as Vyvyan Holland Aged 3
Hans-Jürgen Honikel as Surgeon
Jerry Joner as Hôtel de la Plague Manager
Alexis Julemont as Hotel Sandwich Attractive Waiter
Kit Loyd as Undergraduate #2
Joshua McGuire as Ambrose Smithers - Undergraduate #1
Vincenzo Messina as Peppino
Philip Noel as Top Hat #2
Teodoro Petti as Cimitero delle Fontanelle Guide
Arnaud Peiffer as Hotel Sandwich Bellboy
Lo Polidoro as Café Concert Singer
Gerard Rocher as Old Priest
Werner Rößler as Marquess of Queensberry
Malo Scheen as Bosie's New Boyfriend
Toby Sherborne as Prison Warden
Philipp Spiegel as Café Concert Waiter
Yannick Thor as Cyril Holland Aged 4
Christian Tye as French Poet
Sarah Vandenabeele as Rouen Station Passerby
Dylan Waters as Vyvyan Holland Aged 10
Sam Barrett as Undergraduate #3
Howard Perret as Undergraduate #4
Sam Perry as Undergraduate #5
Torren Simonsz as Undergraduate #6
Giacomo Giorgio as Fisherman at Christmas Party
Giovanni Scotti as Fisherman at Christmas Party

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 121

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	2
4 to 6	3	1
7 to 9	3	11
10 to 12	0	17
13 to 15	0	35
16 to 18	0	14
19 to 21	0	9
22 to 24	0	7
25 to 27	0	10
28 to 30	0	11
31 to 33	0	5
34 to 36	0	0
37 to 39	0	21
40 to 42	3	5
43 to 45	3	17
46 to 48	0	5
49 to 51	0	24
52 to 54	0	1
55 to 57	0	3
58 to 60	8	16
61 to 63	0	6
64 to 66	4	5
67 to 69	0	23
70 to 72	0	6
73 to 75	0	3
76 to 78	1	2
79 to 81	0	1
82 to 84	7	33
85 to 87	5	6
88 to 90	2	3
91 to 93	0	19
94 to 96	0	21
97 to 99	0	32
100 to 102	0	6
103 to 105	1	55
106 to 108	0	25
109 to 111	1	15
112 to 114	0	23
115 to 117	0	6
118 to 120	0	14
121 to 121	0	0

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, 7 are women's.

41 lines from women, 518 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 23 men in the cast. 3 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 599. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 160 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 6% of the words (538), men 94% (7,971). Women have 7% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Rupert Everett (man)
Written by: Rupert Everett (man)
Produced by: Sébastien Delloye (man), Jörg Schulze (man), Philipp Kreuzer (man)
Shot by: John Conroy (man)
Edited by: Nicolas Gaster (man)
Music by: Gabriel Yared (man)
Production design by: Brian Morris (man)
Cast by: Celestia Fox (woman), Adele Gallo (gender not listed), Michaël Bier (man), Massimiliano Pacifico (gender not listed), Daniela Tolkien (woman), Costanza Boccardi (gender not listed)