The next time you're scouring the movie listings for something worthwhile, consider a litmus test devised by Ginger, a character in Alison Bechdel's long-running alt-weekly comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For." For Ginger, a good film should: A.) feature two women, who B.) talk to each other, about C.) something other than a man.
Considering how frequently this happens in real life, you'd be surprised how many movies -- blockbusters, art films, critically acclaimed classics, and even "chick flicks" -- fail this incredibly basic test. As a consumer guide, we put 15 movies to Ginger's standards: five recent Oscar winners, five recipients of the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, and the top five in the American Film Institute's ranking of the 100 best movies of the 20th century. For our purposes, we defined a "character" as somebody who appears--and talks--in at least two scenes, and a "conversation" as an exchange that goes on for at least a minute. Here's how they shaped up:
Academy Award winners:
Gladiator
After his family is slaughtered on orders from evil prince Commodus, brooding Roman general Maximus is sold into slavery. Once free, he seeks revenge; numerous body parts sail through the air.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? No
About something other than a man? N/A
Comments: Commodus' sister, Lucilla, is a primary player, but Maximus' beloved wife is martyred before she can say a word.
American Beauty
Frustrated suburbanite Lester has a spectacularly tumultuous midlife crisis that sucks in his wife, Carolyn; his teen daughter, Jane; and her sexy cheerleading friend, Angela.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Jane's discussions with Angela mostly concern men (including Lester, who imagines Angela as the source of the world's rose petals). But Jane and her mom have non-male-related fights: "You ungrateful little brat! When I was your age, I lived in a duplex!"
Shakespeare in Love
Upper-class aspiring actress Viola, engaged to a noxious rich guy, meets scruffy bohemian playwright Will Shakespeare in Elizabethan London. Passion ensues, and she becomes the catalyst for "Romeo and Juliet."
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Viola enthusiastically discusses the theater with both her handmaiden and the unexpectedly sassy Queen Elizabeth, but she has to disguise herself as a boy to play Romeo onstage.
Titanic
Upper-class aspiring free spirit Rose, engaged to a noxious rich guy, meets scruffy bohemian artist Jack aboard the doomed luxury liner. Passion ensues, and the ship sinks.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Rose's mother, aware that her once-rich family is penniless, forbids Rose to end her engagement. But she's talking about money, not men: "Do you want to see me working as a seamstress?"
The English Patient
At the dusk of World War II, emotionally wounded nurse Hana tends to a disfigured, dying man in an abandoned Italian monastery; she slowly pieces together the tale of his doomed affair with a married artist named Katherine.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? No
About something other than a man? N/A
Comments: Hana and Katherine never meet, and their exchanges with other women are fleeting. (Hana's best female friend dies after her first scene.) Yet it's still a dreaded "chick flick"?
The American Film Institute's top five American movies:
Citizen Kane
The epic and cynical tale of idealistic, emotionally isolated newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, a thinly fictionalized version of William Randolph Hearst.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? No
Comments: Kane's first and second wives meet just briefly; they argue about how he should handle an impending scandal that will ruin him politically. (Marion Davies--the real-life inspiration for Kane's screechy second wife, Susan--is only now being rediscovered as a genuinely funny and charming actress.)
Casablanca
In December 1941, Casablanca cafe owner Rick--squinty and gruff on the surface, heartbroken underneath--unexpectedly meets his former lover, Ilsa, and her revolutionary Czech husband, Victor, who need his help to flee to the United States.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? No
About something other than a man? N/A
Comments: A few other women populate Rick's café, but Ilsa's attentions are focused on Rick, Victor, and loyalty-conflicted pianist Sam.
The Godfather
In the first chapter of this sprawling Mafia-family melodrama, the leadership of the powerful Corleone clan passes from patriarch Vito to son Michael, who had initially planned to lead a straight "civilian" life.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? No
Comments: Being married to the mob doesn't exactly promote female bonding. Michael's sister, Connie, and his second wife, Kay, have a single conversation onscreen, in which Connie tearfully tells Kay that Michael ordered the murder of Connie's husband. Kay barely responds.
Gone With the Wind
In a twelve-year period from the Civil War to Reconstruction, headstrong plantation belle Scarlett seeks both her true love and lost dignity.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Scarlett's exchanges with rival Melanie, as well as slaves Prissy and Mammy, concern everything from men and war to proper Southern etiquette. (At one point Mammy scolds her: "You can't show your bosom before three o'clock!")
Lawrence of Arabia
The true tale of eccentric and rebellious British officer T. E. Lawrence, who, during World War I, helps galvanize Arabian forces against the German-allied Turks.
At least two female characters? No
Do they have a conversation? N/A
About something other than a man? N/A
Comments: It's one of the most majestic and elaborate films ever made in the history of Hollywood, and there's nary a woman in sight.
Cannes Palme d'Or winners:
Dancer in the Dark
Czech emigre Selma, who's slowly going blind, toils in a factory to pay for an operation for her son, daydreams about Hollywood musicals, and--after an improbable series of tragedies--ends up on death row.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Selma frequently confides in her fellow factory worker Kathy (who accompanies her to movies to narrate what's happening) and, eventually, with her empathetic female prison warden.
Rosetta
Rosetta is a serious, skittish 17-year-old Belgian girl living with her unstable and alcoholic mother; she longs to escape her hardscrabble existence by getting a job at a local waffle stand.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Most of Rosetta's conversations are with her male boss and her friendly male coworker, but she also fights with her mother about liquor and rent.
Taste of Cherry
On the eve of his planned suicide, a melancholy Iranian man drives around Tehran's outskirts, seeking someone to bury him the next day. One man finally agrees, but he first tells of how he scrapped his own suicide after tasting fruit from the tree on which he intended to hang himself.
At least two female characters? No
they have a conversation? N/A
About something other than a man? N/A
Comments: This is is a gorgeously filmed meditation on life and death, but women only appear as bit players.
Secrets and Lies
Cynthia, a white, lower-class London woman, lives with her sullen daughter Roxanne and resents her successful younger brother and his wife, Monica. When Hortense, a young black optometrist, appears and says she's also Cynthia's daughter, the family's repressed emotions rush to the surface.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? Yes
Comments: Cynthia and Hortense share the film's most intense conversations as they learn about each other, but Roxanne and Monica also sassily chime in on various topics.
Underground
In a tragicomic allegory that starts in war-torn 1941 Belgrade, Communist partisans and best friends Blacky and Marko hatch a plan in which Blacky and several townspeople will manufacture ammunitions in a hidden cellar; Marko then sells the arms aboveground. By the '60s, Marko still hasn't mentioned that the war is over.
At least two female characters? Yes
Do they have a conversation? Yes
About something other than a man? No
Comments: Marko's wife, Natalija--who's in on the scheme--at one point tells Blacky's daughter-in-law that Blacky and his son are dead, though she's lying. A monkey of unspecified gender is also a key player, but it doesn't talk to anyone.
