Bechdel Test Movie List

One of the most important feminist films of all time *barely* passes, oddly enough. Jeanne speaks with an unseen woman outside her door (played by director Chantal Akerman), mostly about groceries

I beg to differ. Only Delphine Seyrig's character is named (or even seen). I just find it funny that the quintessential feminist masterpiece isn't covered by this test, while something like 50 Shades is. Maybe we should take this as a sign that the "proper" in "proper respresentation" is totally subjective.

I think it's a little narrow minded to say that the film barely passes the test. While it's true that there isn't a lot of live dialogue between women in the film, this is clearly not due to factors that this test set out to foreground. In other words, if this film fails, its a false negative, by applying the test too rigidly, we omit information. Without considering the intention of the film, which is relevant, but let's put it aside for a moment, we can say that the film would not pass an inverse Bechedel test: there isn't a conversation here between two men, that isn't about women. This means that the film "fails" the test, not for reasons of patriarchy, but because of it's unique composition. Plus, we do hear, out loud, a correspondence by mail between two women, when Jeanne reads her sister's letter out loud. I additionally think that this is a worthy supplement.

This film is definitely a feminist masterpiece, and definitely fails the test. If "It has to have at least two [named] women in it" is going to be the first criteria for the Bechdel test, then that is a criteria that we need to apply uniformly, regardless of intention. I agree with Noam's sentiment that the fact that the film fails is in no way due to patriarchy, but part of the appeal of the Bechdel Test is that it is easy to understand and, at least in large part, objective. Objectively, a film that features only a single named female character onscreen does not pass, and in a lesser, less feminist film we wouldn't even consider counting a unnamed, unseen woman as the second woman nor would we count a letter from a character that never appears.

Why does Gravity fail the Bechdel test in this site but Jeanne Dielman doesn’t? Both are clearly feminist and yet they don’t pass the first condition.

If we're going by the test rules as laid out by this site, which we are, the film surely fails. Jeanne is the only named woman seen in the entire film. She briefly speaks to an unnamed, unseen mother twice, and says a few words to several unnamed shopkeepers. We know the name of another woman, Jeanne's sister Fernande, who doesn't appear. Jeanne merely reads Fernande's letter aloud and never replies. This one-sided correspondence cannot be considered talking. Rather than give this film a pass because of its famous feminist bona fides, we should rate it fairly and tout it as a stark demonstration of the limits of the Bechdel test.