Fails the Bechdel test
The Man Who Wasn't There
2001. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
1949, Santa Rosa, California. A laconic, chain-smoking barber with fallen arches tells a story of a man trying to escape a humdrum life. It's a tale of suspected adultery, blackmail, foul play, death, Sacramento city slickers, racial slurs, invented war heroics, shaved legs, a gamine piano player, aliens, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. Ed Crane cuts hair in his in-law's shop; his wife drinks and may be having an affair with her boss, Big Dave, who has $10,000 to invest in a second department store. Ed gets wind of a chance to make money in dry cleaning. Blackmail and investment are his opportunity to be more than a man no one notices. Settle in the chair and listen.
- Released
- 16 Nov 2001
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 73 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 43 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ed 343 lines, man
- Dave 52 lines, man
- Frank 52 lines, man
- Riedenschneider 44 lines, man
- Doris 42 lines, woman
- Birdy 33 lines, woman
- Creighton 33 lines, man
- Man 27 lines, man
- Walter 21 lines, man
- Persky 15 lines, man
Full cast, 63 people
- Billy Bob Thornton as Ed Crane
- Frances McDormand as Doris Crane
- Michael Badalucco as Frank
- James Gandolfini as Big Dave Brewster
- Katherine Borowitz as Ann Nirdlinger Brewster
- Jon Polito as Creighton Tolliver
- Scarlett Johansson as Birdy Abundas
- Richard Jenkins as Walter Abundas
- Tony Shalhoub as Freddy Riedenschneider
- Christopher Kriesa as Officer Persky
- Brian Haley as Officer Krebs
- Jack McGee as P.I. Burns
- Gregg Binkley as The New Man
- Alan Fudge as Dr. Diedrickson
- Lilyan Chauvin as Medium
- Adam Alexi-Malle as Jacques Carcanogues
- Ted Rooney as Bingo Caller
- Abraham Benrubi as Party Man
- Christian Ferratti as Child
- Rhoda Gemignani as Costanza
- E.J. Callahan as Customer
- Brooke Smith as Sobbing Prisoner
- Ron Ross as Banker
- Hallie Singleton as Waitress
- Jon Donnelly as Gatto Eater
- Dan Martin as Bailiff
- Nicholas Lanier as Tony
- Tom Dahlgren as Judge #1
- Booth Colman as Judge #2
- Stanley DeSantis as New Man's Customer
- Peter Siragusa as Bartender
- Christopher McDonald as Macadam Salesman
- Rick Scarry as District Attorney
- George Ives as Lloyd Garroway
- Devon Cole Borisoff as Swimming Boy
- Mary Bogue as Prisoner Visitor
- Don Donati as Pie Contest Timer
- Arthur Reeves as Flophouse Clerk
- Michelle Weber as Dancer
- Randi Cee as Dancer
- Robert Loftin as Dancer
- Kenneth Hughes as Dancer
- Gordon Hart as Dancer
- Brenda Mae Hamilton as Dancer
- Lloyd Gordon as Dancer
- Leonard Crofoot as Dancer
- Rita Maye Bland as Dancer
- Audrey K. Baranishyn as Dancer
- Qyn Hughes as Dancer
- Rachel McDonald as Dancer
- Jennifer Jason Leigh as Female Inmate (voice) (uncredited)
- Craig Berenson as Jail Guy (uncredited)
- Joan Blair as Prison Matron (uncredited)
- Greg Bronson as Courtroom Attendee (uncredited)
- Geoffrey Gould as Alpine Rope Toss Man (uncredited)
- Paul G. Gray as Man in Courtroom (uncredited)
- Phil Hawn as Man in Courtroom (uncredited)
- Cherilyn Hayres as Swing Dancer (uncredited)
- John Michael Higgins as Emergency Room Physician (uncredited)
- Pete Schrum as Truck Driver (uncredited)
- Max Thayer as Witness (uncredited)
- Spencer Kayden as Piano Recital Patron (uncredited)
- Bob Shuttleworth as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 12
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 1 | 7 | 131 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 3 | 32 | 96 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 29 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 to 8 | 28 | 204 |
| 9 to 9 | 2 | 28 |
| 10 to 10 | 1 | 38 |
| 11 to 11 | 27 | 67 |
| 12 to 12 | 1 | 65 |
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, 13 are women's.
98 lines from women, 658 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
16 women and 36 men in the cast. 4 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 34 of 789.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 89 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (825), men 91% (8,623). Women have 13% 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
1
Two men
30
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Written by
- Joel Coen (man), Ethan Coen (man)
- Produced by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Ethan Coen (man), Tricia Cooke (woman), Joel Coen (man)
- Music by
- Carter Burwell (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Mary Zophres (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 18 men, 12 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 9 men, 15 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 9 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
9 women, 3 men, 11 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 6 men, 15 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 2 men, 14 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Scarlett Johansson 16, Frances McDormand 44, Katherine Borowitz 47
Men
James Gandolfini 40, Billy Bob Thornton 46, Michael Badalucco 46, Tony Shalhoub 48, Jon Polito 50, Christopher Kriesa 52, Richard Jenkins 54
Exhibit G: the money
It made 95% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $18.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 12 scenes and 789 lines of dialogue. How the test works
