Passes the Bechdel test
The Piano
1994. Directed by Jane Campion, written by Jane Campion.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
It is the mid-nineteenth century. Ada cannot speak and she has a young daughter, Flora. In an arranged marriage she leaves her native Scotland accompanied by her daughter and her beloved piano. Life in the rugged forests of New Zealand's North Island is not all she may have imagined and nor is her relationship with her new husband Stewart. She suffers torment and loss when Stewart sells her piano to a neighbor, George. Ada learns from George that she may earn back her piano by giving him piano lessons, but only with certain other conditions attached. At first Ada despises George but slowly their relationship is transformed and this propels them into a dire situation.
- Released
- 11 Feb 1994
- Genres
- Drama, Music, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 89 / 100
- Awards
- Won 3 Oscars. 65 wins & 57 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Stewart 112 lines, man
- Baines 89 lines, man
- Flora 74 lines, woman
- Aunt Morag 37 lines, woman
- Hira 18 lines, woman
- Subtitled 11 lines, man
- Nessie 10 lines, woman
- Big Sister 8 lines, woman
- Reverend 6 lines, man
- Seamen 6 lines
Full cast, 20 people
- Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath
- Harvey Keitel as George Baines
- Sam Neill as Alisdair Stewart
- Anna Paquin as Flora McGrath
- Cliff Curtis as Mana
- Kerry Walker as Aunt Morag
- Ian Mune as Reverend
- Geneviève Lemon as Nessie
- Pete Smith as Hone
- Bruce Allpress as Blind Piano Tuner
- Rose McIver as Angel
- Verity George as Bluebeard's Wife
- Stephen Papps as Bluebeard
- Karen Colston as Bluebeard's Wife (Miss Palmer)
- Eddie Campbell as Seaman
- Te Whatanui Skipwith as Chief Nihe
- Tungia Baker as Hira
- Neil Gudsell as Tahu
- Jon Sperry as Taunting Man
- Greg Mayor as Tipi
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
AUNT MORAG: Well, she was very violent with the gown. She tore off a chunk of lace. if hadn't been there I'd have sworn she'd used her teeth NESSIE: and wiped her feet an it.
HIRA: You have spare wife here Peini. You get rnana for that. Our chief four wives. HIRA: Who do that? It not finish, that no good Peini. You finish! FLORA: I want to speak to my mother AUNT MORAG: Which sign is the word rehearsal?
AUNT MORAG: You know I am thinking of the piano. She does not play the piano as we do Nessie. NESSIE: Ohhhhhh!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 40 are women's.
162 lines from women, 239 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 12 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 29 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 38% of the words (1,545), men 62% (2,505). Women have 40% 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
9
Two men
17
Exhibit F: behind the camera
8 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 50% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jane Campion (woman)
- Written by
- Jane Campion (woman)
- Produced by
- Jan Chapman (woman)
- Shot by
- Stuart Dryburgh (man)
- Edited by
- Veronika Jenet (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Nyman (man)
- Production design by
- Andrew McAlpine (man)
- Costumes by
- Janet Patterson (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Alison Barrett (woman), Susie Figgis (woman), Diana Rowan (woman), Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 31 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Anna Paquin 10, Holly Hunter 35, Geneviève Lemon 35, Kerry Walker 45
Men
Cliff Curtis 24, Pete Smith 34, Sam Neill 45, Ian Mune 52, Harvey Keitel 54, Bruce Allpress 62
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $7 million
- Box office
- $40.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 428 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
