Fails the Bechdel test

The Thin Red Line

Name: The Thin Red Line
Released: 1999

1999. Directed by Terrence Malick, written by James Jones and Terrence Malick.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

No 1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

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

The film

In World War II, the outcome of the battle of Guadalcanal will strongly influence the Japanese advance into the Pacific theater. A group of young soldiers are brought in as a relief for the battle-weary Marines. The exhausting fight for a strategically-positioned airfield that allows control over a 1000-mile radius puts the men of the Army rifle company C-for-Charlie through hell. The horrors of war form the soldiers into a tight-knit group; their emotions develop into bonds of love and even family. The reasons for this war get further away as the world for the men gets smaller and smaller until their fighting is for mere survival and the life of the other men with them.

Released: 15 Jan 1999
Genres: Drama, History, War
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.6 / 10
Metascore: 78 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 7 Oscars. 23 wins & 47 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Fife 124 lines, man
Stein 122 lines, man
Welsh 105 lines, man
Witt 98 lines, man
Doll 92 lines, man
Col. Tall 63 lines, man
Storm 52 lines, man
Bell 51 lines, man
Mazzi 46 lines, man
Dale 43 lines, man

Full cast, 51 people

Jim Caviezel as Pvt. Robert Witt
Nick Nolte as Lt. Col. Gordon Tall
Sean Penn as 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
Ben Chaplin as Pvt. Jack Bell
Elias Koteas as Capt. James Staros
John Cusack as Capt. John Gaff
Dash Mihok as Pfc. Don Doll
John C. Reilly as Sgt. Maynard Storm
Woody Harrelson as Sgt. William Keck
Miranda Otto as Marty Bell
Arie Verveen as Pfc. Charlie Dale
Kirk Acevedo as Pvt. Alfredo Tella
Nick Stahl as Pfc. Edward Bead
Thomas Jane as Pvt. Ash
Tim Blake Nelson as Pvt. Brian Tills
Adrien Brody as Cpl. Geoffrey Fife
George Clooney as Capt. Charles Bosche
Jared Leto as 2nd Lt. William Whyte
John Travolta as Brig. Gen. David Quintard
John Savage as Sgt. Jack McCron
John Dee Smith as Pvt. Edward Train
Mark Boone Junior as Pvt. Christopher Peale
Matt Doran as Pvt. Howard Coombs
Paul Gleeson as 1st Lt. George "Brass" Band
Don Harvey as Sgt. Paul Becker
Donal Logue as Marl (uncredited)
Larry Romano as Pvt. Frank Mazzi
Penelope Allen as Witt's Mother
Danny Hoch as Pvt. Leonardo Carni
Benjamin Green as Melanesian Villager
Simon Billig as Lt. Col. Billig
Jarrod Dean as Cpl. Thorne
Travis Fine as Pvt. Weld
David Harrod as Cpl. Queen
Don Harvey as Sgt. Becker
Michael McGrady as Pvt. Floyd
Stephen Spacek as Cpl. Jenks
Steven Vidler as 2nd Lt. Gore
Will Wallace as Pvt. Hoke
Todd Wallace as Pilot
Simon Westaway as First Scout
Dan Wyllie as Medic #1
Randall Craig as Navy Gunner (uncredited)
Kick Gurry as (uncredited)
Randall Duk Kim as Nisei Interpreter (uncredited)
Darrin Klimek as (uncredited)
Dane Moreton as Pvt. Alexander (uncredited)
Ray Samuelson as Navy Soldier (uncredited)
Justin Ward as Navy Soldier (uncredited)
Felix Williamson as Private Drake (uncredited)
Norman Patrick Brown as Pvt. Henry

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 128

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 3	0	13
4 to 6	3	40
7 to 9	0	33
10 to 12	0	4
13 to 15	0	5
16 to 18	0	3
19 to 21	2	36
22 to 24	0	41
25 to 27	0	10
28 to 30	0	25
31 to 33	1	16
34 to 36	0	44
37 to 39	0	39
40 to 42	7	136
43 to 45	0	103
46 to 48	0	61
49 to 51	0	28
52 to 54	0	22
55 to 57	0	34
58 to 60	4	13
61 to 63	2	51
64 to 66	0	56
67 to 69	1	22
70 to 72	0	48
73 to 75	0	37
76 to 78	0	16
79 to 81	0	20
82 to 84	3	9
85 to 87	0	14
88 to 90	0	18
91 to 93	0	30
94 to 96	0	1
97 to 99	0	8
100 to 102	0	10
103 to 105	0	6
106 to 108	0	4
109 to 111	0	3
112 to 114	0	6
115 to 117	0	9
118 to 120	0	18
121 to 123	0	13
124 to 126	0	3
127 to 128	0	0

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, 2 are women's.

23 lines from women, 1108 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

2 women and 44 men in the cast. 0 women and 39 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 19 of 1,213. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 338 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (264), men 99% (18,577). Women have 2% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Terrence Malick (man)
Written by: Terrence Malick (man)
From the novel by: James Jones (man)
Produced by: Robert Michael Geisler (man), John Roberdeau (man), Grant Hill (man)
Shot by: John Toll (man)
Edited by: Leslie Jones (woman), Saar Klein (man), Billy Weber (man)
Music by: Hans Zimmer (man)
Production design by: Jack Fisk (man)
Costumes by: Margot Wilson (woman)
Cast by: Dianne Crittenden (woman)