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Passes the Bechdel test

The Last Temptation of Christ

1988. Directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nikos Kazantzakis and Paul Schrader.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    10 women characters. 7 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 2 scenes out of 73.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

Poster for The Last Temptation of Christ

The film

The carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for Him. But as His mission nears fulfillment, He must face the greatest temptation; the normal life of a good man. Based, not on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name.

Released
12 Aug 1988
Genres
Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
80 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 2 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Jesus 280 lines, man
  2. Judas 96 lines, man
  3. Magdalene 35 lines, woman
  4. Peter 31 lines, man
  5. Philip 25 lines
  6. John 19 lines, man
  7. Martha 17 lines, woman
  8. Mary 14 lines, woman
  9. Zebedee 14 lines, man
  10. Pilate 13 lines
Full cast, 55 people
  • Willem Dafoe as Jesus
  • Harvey Keitel as Judas
  • Paul Greco as Zealot
  • Steve Shill as Centurian
  • David Bowie as Pontius Pilatus
  • Verna Bloom as Mary, Mother of Jesus
  • Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene
  • Roberts Blossom as Aged Master
  • Barry Miller as Jeroboam
  • Gary Basaraba as Andrew, Apostle
  • Irvin Kershner as Zebedee
  • Victor Argo as Peter, Apostle
  • Michael Been as John, Apostle
  • Paul Herman as Phillip, Apostle
  • John Lurie as James, Apostle
  • Leo Burmester as Nathaniel, Apostle
  • Andre Gregory as John the Baptist
  • Peggy Gormley as Martha, Sister of Lazarus
  • Randy Danson as Mary, Sister of Lazarus
  • Robert Spafford as Man at Wedding
  • Doris von Thury as Woman with Mary, Mother of Jesus
  • Tomas Arana as Lazarus / Crowd Member
  • Alan Rosenberg as Thomas, Apostle
  • Del Russel as Money Changer
  • Nehemiah Persoff as Rabbi
  • Donald Hodson as Saducee
  • Harry Dean Stanton as Paulus
  • Peter Berling as Beggar
  • Juliette Caton as Girl Angel
  • Mohammed Mabsout as Other Apostles
  • Ahmed Nacir as Other Apostles
  • Mokhtar Salouf as Other Apostles
  • Mahamed Ait Fdil Ahmed as Other Apostles
  • Russel Case as People at Sermon
  • Wanja Mary Sellers as People at Sermon
  • Donna Magnani as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Penny Brown as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Gabi Ford as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Dale Wyatt as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Domenico Fiore as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Ted Rusoff as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Leo Damian as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Robert Laconi as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Jonathan Zhivago as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Illeana Douglas as Crowd Member (voice)
  • D.J. Sharp as Crowd Member (voice)
  • Khalid Benghrib as Dancer
  • Redouane Farhane as Dancer
  • Fabienne Panciatili as Dancer
  • Naima Skikes as Dancer
  • Souad Rahal as Dancer
  • Otmane Chbani Idrissi as Dancer
  • Jamal Belkhayat as Dancer
  • Giovanni Cianfriglia as Roman Soldier (uncredited)
  • Martin Scorsese as Isaiah (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 73

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 2014
3 to 4713
5 to 6018
7 to 800
9 to 101211
11 to 1219
13 to 1400
15 to 16030
17 to 18212
19 to 20124
21 to 22019
23 to 24112
25 to 26024
27 to 2801
29 to 3008
31 to 3236
33 to 3497
35 to 36227
37 to 38022
39 to 4022
41 to 4206
43 to 44034
45 to 46011
47 to 48025
49 to 50319
51 to 52035
53 to 54021
55 to 5604
57 to 5800
59 to 6039
61 to 6266
63 to 641011
65 to 66104
67 to 6886
69 to 70628
71 to 72434
73 to 7302

The evidence

  • Straight from the script
  • Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MARTHA: But you've hardly had time to rest. MARY: Please stay.
MARTHA: Mary, look! It's Jesus. It'·s a miracle. MARY: Is it really you?
MARTHA: Come by the fire where we can get a better look at you. MARY: What's this?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 15 are women's.

90 lines from women, 514 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

10 women and 28 men in the cast. 7 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 18 of 700. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 97 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 (1,257), men 86% (7,907). Women have 15% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: 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 F: behind the camera

3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Martin Scorsese (man)
Written by
Paul Schrader (man)
From the novel by
Nikos Kazantzakis (man)
Produced by
Barbara De Fina (woman)
Shot by
Michael Ballhaus (man)
Edited by
Thelma Schoonmaker (woman)
Music by
Peter Gabriel (man)
Production design by
John Beard (man)
Costumes by
Jean-Pierre Delifer (gender not listed)
Cast by
Cis Corman (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    2 women, 10 men, 5 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 5 men, 6 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Production

    3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Other crew

    0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed

  • Editing

    2 women, 0 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 45 on average. Men: 40 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Barbara Hershey 40, Verna Bloom 49

Men

Gary Basaraba 29, Barry Miller 30, Willem Dafoe 32, Paul Greco 32, David Bowie 41, Harvey Keitel 49, Roberts Blossom 64

Exhibit H: the money

It made 4.8 times what it cost.

Budget
$7 million
Box office
$33.8 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 73 scenes and 700 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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