Passes the Bechdel test

The Legend of Zorro

Name: The Legend of Zorro
Released: 2005

2005. Directed by Martin Campbell, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and Ted Elliott.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 167.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

In 1850--against the backdrop of political unrest, as the scheming Jacob McGivens tries to stop California from joining the Union--the mysterious black-caped masked swordsman, Alejandro de la Vega, aka Zorro, finds himself in an unavoidable predicament. Having spent almost a decade protecting his people and fighting injustice, Alejandro's wife, Elena, insists that he gives up the black mask, and become a true father to their eight-year-old son, Joaquin. However, when Elena leaves him for the French count, Armand, it becomes evident that the conceited aristocrat is up to no good. Can Zorro, the legendary defender of the innocent, save both his marriage and the country?

Released: 28 Oct 2005
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: PG
IMDb: 6 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: 2 wins & 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Alejandro 144 lines, man
Elena 133 lines, woman
Armand 103 lines, man
Joaquin 55 lines, man
Fray Felipe 50 lines, man
Mcgivens 38 lines, man
Zorro 29 lines, man
Harrigan 21 lines, man
Pike 19 lines, man
Cortez 14 lines, man

Full cast, 23 people

Antonio Banderas as Don Alejandro de la Vega / Zorro
Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena
Adrian Alonso as Joaquin
Julio Oscar Mechoso as Frey Felipe
Nick Chinlund as Jacob McGivens
Alexa Benedetti as Lupe
Rufus Sewell as Armand
Raúl Méndez as Ferroq
Brandon Wood as Ricardo
Michael Emerson as Harrigan
Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Governor Riley
Mary Crosby as Governor's Wife
Giovanna Zacarías as Blanca
Alberto Reyes as Brother Ignacio
Gustavo Sánchez Parra as Guillermo Cortez
Carlos Cobos as Tabulador
Tony Amendola as Father Quintero
Shuler Hensley as Pike
Fernando Becerril as Don Diaz
Mar Carrera as Marie
Silverio Palacios as Head Jailer
Finder's Key as Tornado
Rowley Irlam as Sneering Man (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 167

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 4	0	5
5 to 8	1	27
9 to 12	4	8
13 to 16	17	26
17 to 20	6	34
21 to 24	18	82
25 to 28	27	35
29 to 32	0	12
33 to 36	0	11
37 to 40	1	2
41 to 44	0	3
45 to 48	4	7
49 to 52	12	17
53 to 56	5	7
57 to 60	0	4
61 to 64	0	6
65 to 68	6	9
69 to 72	1	10
73 to 76	0	27
77 to 80	3	22
81 to 84	4	9
85 to 88	3	27
89 to 92	3	2
93 to 96	6	21
97 to 100	9	12
101 to 104	4	31
105 to 108	10	8
109 to 112	1	2
113 to 116	1	19
117 to 120	1	9
121 to 124	0	0
125 to 128	0	1
129 to 132	0	1
133 to 136	4	5
137 to 140	0	5
141 to 144	0	0
145 to 148	1	0
149 to 152	0	0
153 to 156	0	1
157 to 160	0	0
161 to 164	0	15
165 to 167	0	3

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

ELENA: ••• Thank you so much. MARIE: Perhaps Madame would like an amuse bouche to tide her over until dinner? MARIE: As you wish, Madame.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.

152 lines from women, 525 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 17 men in the cast. 4 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 14 of 709. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 58 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 18% of the words (1,565), men 82% (6,967). Women have 22% 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

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Martin Campbell (man)
Written by: Roberto Orci (man), Alex Kurtzman (man)
Story by: Alex Kurtzman (man), Roberto Orci (man), Ted Elliott (man), Terry Rossio (man)
Produced by: Laurie MacDonald (woman), Walter F. Parkes (man), Lloyd Phillips (man)
Shot by: Phil Meheux (man)
Edited by: Stuart Baird (man)
Music by: James Horner (man)
Production design by: Cecilia Montiel (woman)
Costumes by: Graciela Mazón (gender not listed)
Cast by: Pam Dixon (woman)