Passes the Bechdel test

The Pianist

Name: The Pianist
Released: 2003

2003. Directed by Roman Polanski, written by Ronald Harwood and Wladyslaw Szpilman.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 165.
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 1 out of 3.

The film

In this adaptation of the autobiography "The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945," Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish radio station pianist, sees Warsaw change gradually as World War II begins. Szpilman is forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, but is later separated from his family during Operation Reinhard. From this time until the concentration camp prisoners are released, Szpilman hides in various locations among the ruins of Warsaw.

Released: 28 Mar 2003
Genres: Biography, Drama, Music
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.5 / 10
Metascore: 85 / 100
Awards: Won 3 Oscars. 57 wins & 74 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Szpilman 154 lines, man
Henryk 46 lines, man
Dorota 30 lines, woman
Father 30 lines, man
Mother 25 lines, woman
The German Captain 24 lines, man
Halina 20 lines, woman
Jehuda 19 lines, man
Regina 17 lines, woman
Michal 14 lines, man

Full cast, 79 people

Adrien Brody as Władysław 'Władek' Szpilman
Thomas Kretschmann as Captain Wilm Hosenfeld
Frank Finlay as Father
Maureen Lipman as Mother
Emilia Fox as Dorota
Ed Stoppard as Henryk Szpilman
Julia Rayner as Regina Szpilman
Jessica Kate Meyer as Halina Szpilman
Michał Żebrowski as Jurek
Wanja Mues as SS Slapping Father
Richard Ridings as Mr. Lipa
Nomi Sharron as Feather Woman
Anthony Milner as Man Waiting to Cross
Lucy Skeaping as Street Musician
Roddy Skeaping as Street Musician
Ben Harlan as Street Musician
Thomas Lawinky as Schutzpolizei
Joachim Paul Assböck as Schutzpolizei
Roy Smiles as Itzak Heller
Paul Bradley as Yehuda
Daniel Caltagirone as Majorek
Andrzej Blumenfeld as Benek
Zbigniew Zamachowski as Customer with Coins
Detlev von Wangenheim as SS Officer
Popeck as Rubenstein
Zofia Czerwińska as Woman with Soup
Udo Kroschwald as Schultz
Uwe Rathsam as SS Shooting the Woman
Joanna Brodzik as Woman Shot in the Head
Katarzyna Bargiełowska as Wailing Woman
Maja Ostaszewska as Woman with Child
John Bennett as Dr. Ehrlich
Cyril Shaps as Mr. Grün
Wojciech Smolarz as Boy with Sweets
Lech Mackiewicz as Fellow Worker
Ruth Platt as Janina
Peter Rappenglück as SS Making a Speech
Ronan Vibert as Janina's Husband
Krzysztof Pieczyński as Marek Gębczyński
Katarzyna Figura as Neighbour
Valentine Pelka as Dorota's Husband
Andrew Tiernan as Szalas
Tom Strauss as Dr. Luczak
Cezary Kosiński as Lednicki
Paweł Burczyk as Polish Workman
Nina Franoszek as Polish Woman
John Keogh as Polish Officer
Rafał Mohr as Schutzpolizei
Andrzej Pieczyński as Prisoner
Morgane Polanski as Girl
Grzegorz Artman as Other part
Adam Bauman as Other part
Andrzej Szenajch as Other part
Zbigniew Dziduch as Other Part
Marian Dziędziel as Other part
Jerzy Góralczyk as Other part
Jarosław Kopaczewski as Other part
Patrick Lanagan as Other part
Dorota Liliental as Other part
Norbert Rakowski as Other part
Piotr Siejka as Other part
Tomasz Tyndyk as Other part
Andrzej Walden as Other part
Zbigniew Waleryś as Other part
Maciej Winkler as Other part
Tadeusz Wojtych as Other Part
Andrzej Zieliński as Other part
Paweł Małaszyński as Man in Ghetto (uncredited)
Axel Prahl as German Soldier - Rummage Bags (uncredited)
Borys Szyc as Young Gestapo (uncredited)
Rafał Dajbor as Soldier (uncredited)
Adrian Hood as Piano Buyer (uncredited)
Ryszard Kluge as Jew Working on the Bulding Site (uncredited)
Maciej Kowalewski as SS Officer (uncredited)
Paweł Zdun as (uncredited)
Jacek Wolszczak as Man in Ghetto (uncredited)
Malgorzata Trybalska as Zydówka (uncredited)
Dawid Szurmiej as Man in Ghetto (uncredited)
Izabella Szolc as Women in Ghetto (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 165

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	3	5
5 to 8	31	40
9 to 12	6	21
13 to 16	12	18
17 to 20	5	26
21 to 24	0	2
25 to 28	6	33
29 to 32	4	21
33 to 36	1	13
37 to 40	0	23
41 to 44	1	2
45 to 48	13	29
49 to 52	3	8
53 to 56	0	0
57 to 60	2	13
61 to 64	0	15
65 to 68	0	1
69 to 72	0	26
73 to 76	0	1
77 to 80	1	5
81 to 84	0	6
85 to 88	0	5
89 to 92	5	4
93 to 96	0	7
97 to 100	0	1
101 to 104	11	14
105 to 108	0	14
109 to 112	9	12
113 to 116	0	0
117 to 120	0	3
121 to 124	0	1
125 to 128	0	0
129 to 132	0	0
133 to 136	0	0
137 to 140	0	0
141 to 144	0	0
145 to 148	0	8
149 to 152	0	8
153 to 156	0	17
157 to 160	1	0
161 to 164	0	19
165 to 165	0	0

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.

REGINA: Haven't you seen the paper? Where's the paper? HALINA: I used it for packing. REGINA: She used it for packing.

REGINA: Quiet! Quiet! Order, please, order! HALINA: She's a lawyer, she likes order. REGINA: Listen, just listen. Let's come to an agreement. We jam the money in the window frame. The watch we hide under the cupboard. And the chain w…

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 21 are women's.

114 lines from women, 421 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 51 men in the cast. 6 women and 24 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 590. 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 19% of the words (1,062), men 81% (4,434). Women have 21% 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

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Roman Polanski (man)
Written by: Ronald Harwood (man)
Produced by: Alain Sarde (man), Roman Polanski (man), Robert Benmussa (man)
Shot by: Paweł Edelman (man)
Edited by: Hervé de Luze (man)
Music by: Wojciech Kilar (man)
Production design by: Allan Starski (man)
Costumes by: Anna B. Sheppard (woman)
Cast by: Celestia Fox (woman), Heta Mantscheff (woman), Vanessa Baker (woman), Brendan Donnison (man)