Passes the Bechdel test

The Reader

Name: The Reader
Released: 2009

2009. Directed by Stephen Daldry, written by David Hare and Bernhard Schlink.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
14 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 197.
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

THE READER opens in post-war Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate secret affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey," "Huck Finn," and "The Lady with the Little Dog." Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life--this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another.

Released: 30 Jan 2009
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.6 / 10
Metascore: 58 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 26 wins & 48 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Michael 195 lines, man
Hanna 113 lines, woman
Judge 63 lines, man
Rohl 39 lines, man
Ilana 31 lines, woman
Dieter 25 lines, man
Julia 22 lines, woman
Carla 16 lines, woman
Ms Brenner 13 lines, woman
Marthe 12 lines, woman

Full cast, 28 people

Ralph Fiennes as Michael Berg
Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz
David Kross as Young Michael Berg
Lena Olin as Rose Mather
Bruno Ganz as Professor Rohl
Jeanette Hain as Brigitte
Hannah Herzsprung as Julia
Karoline Herfurth as Marthe
Volker Bruch as Dieter Spenz
Alexandra Maria Lara as Young Ilana Mather
Fabian Busch as Hanna's Defense Council
Vijessna Ferkic as Sophie
Susanne Lothar as Carla Berg
Matthias Habich as Peter Berg
Burghart Klaußner as Judge
Sylvester Groth as Prosecuting Council
Jürgen Tarrach as Gerhard Bade
Florian Bartholomäi as Thomas Berg
Moritz Grove as Holger
Kirsten Block as Female Judge
Margarita Broich as Co-Defendant
Marie Gruber as Co-Defendant
Martin Brambach as Remand Prison Guard #1
Carmen-Maja Antoni as Prison Librarian
Heike Hanold-Lynch as Prison Guard
Linda Bassett as Ms. Brenner
Ludwig Blochberger as Student
Benjamin Trinks as Holger's friend

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, 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 197

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 5	6	5
6 to 10	4	2
11 to 15	8	6
16 to 20	4	4
21 to 25	1	0
26 to 30	11	11
31 to 35	4	5
36 to 40	13	17
41 to 45	0	0
46 to 50	11	16
51 to 55	6	10
56 to 60	4	4
61 to 65	2	2
66 to 70	3	4
71 to 75	4	15
76 to 80	9	6
81 to 85	2	3
86 to 90	1	4
91 to 95	14	19
96 to 100	12	35
101 to 105	15	38
106 to 110	11	27
111 to 115	10	19
116 to 120	2	18
121 to 125	0	0
126 to 130	3	1
131 to 135	0	0
136 to 140	0	3
141 to 145	9	8
146 to 150	14	7
151 to 155	0	2
156 to 160	0	5
161 to 165	5	2
166 to 170	0	0
171 to 175	3	2
176 to 180	3	3
181 to 185	16	15
186 to 190	3	1
191 to 195	27	20
196 to 197	3	2

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.

HANNA: I want to take out a book. LIBRARIAN: Which book? HANNA: Do you have The Lady with the Little Dog? LIBRARIAN: What's your name?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 42 are women's.

243 lines from women, 341 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

14 women and 14 men in the cast. 9 women and 7 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 26 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 39% of the words (2,331), men 61% (3,686). Women have 42% 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

7 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 36% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Stephen Daldry (man)
Written by: David Hare (man)
Produced by: Donna Gigliotti (woman), Anthony Minghella (man), Sydney Pollack (man), Redmond Morris (man)
Shot by: Roger Deakins (man), Chris Menges (man)
Edited by: Claire Simpson (woman)
Music by: Nico Muhly (man)
Production design by: Brigitte Broch (woman)
Costumes by: Donna Maloney (woman), Ann Roth (woman)
Cast by: Simone Bär (woman), Jina Jay (woman)