I enjoy Canadian film for its propensity of strong writing with realistic characters. Fewer explosions, more dialogue.
My love for strong, realistic dialogue in film gets along well with the Bechdel test, a way to get a sense of where females fall in the importance of a film.
The Bechdel test has 3 basic criteria:
- Are there two or more named female characters?
- Do they talk with each other?
- About something other than a man?
Most films, Canadian or otherwise, definitely fits criteria #1. You might laugh at the idea of named female characters, but you would be surprised that in the credits of some films, women (more than men) have identifiers such as "woman topless on beach" instead of actual names.
Passing the Bechdel test doesn't put the film in some magical feminist utopia. And failing the Bechdel test doesn't mean there aren't strong feminist tones within the film. The Bechdel test is just a guide to steer you away from extremely superfluous films toward films that likely do well with dialogue, plot, and characters.
Sometimes, a film has a strong female character in the lead but not another female character to be the other end of a conversation. The final requirement helps steer away from films where either the women are both going after the man or the sidekick helps her friend get the man by the end of the film.
We aren't saying Canadian films are more likely to pass the Bechdel test. Non-American films are more likely to pass the test than American films but also that the United States supplies with world with so many films that fail the Bechdel test with flying colors.
The criteria can be subject to interpretation. After all, @Krinkle8/Twitter said this, "Someone pointed out that "oh my god, becky, look at her butt" passes the bechdel test and I haven't stopped laughing for a week."
Let's take "Wet Bum" as an example, especially since we've just reviewed the film.
Sam has a "conversation" with Judith, even if Judith doesn't actually answer back. Sam talks with her mom, Mary Ellen, about topics other than a man. Girls in the locker room have conversations with Sam, even if they are about the awkwardness of not changing clothes in the locker room.
A conversation should have words. Does it matter that Sam and Mary Ellen are daughter and mother, after all, female relatives would fit it easier to have conversations that don't involve a man. The locker room conversations are mostly girls talking at each other, or with each other about Sam. All the girls in the film do have names.
The Xavier Dolan Quebecois collection would seemingly pass the Bechdel test with strong female characters. However, "Mommy" barely qualifies, even though a romantic partner isn't the issue. "Tom at the Farm" and "J'ai tué ma mère" talk about a man, though only Sarah of "Tom at the Farm" is interested romantically in the man. As for "Heartbeats" and "Laurence Anyways," I can't honestly recall a conversation with 2 women in either film, though Suzanne Clément's rant against a waitress in the latter film should qualify as an important one-sided conversation.
Lesbian films could pass the Bechdel test if the love interest is a woman, but chances are lesbian films will also have conversations that don't pertain to a romantic partner. "Blue Is the Warmest Colour" has tons of conversations that have nothing to do with romance or sex.
Even with hours for research, we couldn't list all Canadian films that pass the Bechdel test. If the Bechdel test criteria would help you pick out a Canadian film, we have a few suggestions.
Our list is pretty safe. These are mostly films we've seen and discussed where a pair of female named characters have a conversation not about a man.
- Ginger Snaps
- Trigger
- Mommy
- Wet Bum
- Into the Forest
- La Passion d'Augustine
- Empire of Dirt
- Vic and Flo Saw a Bear
- Room
- Inch'Allah
- Cloudburst
- Ville-Marie
- Take This Waltz (if only the shower scene)
- The Five Senses
- Marion Bridge
- Gabrielle
- When Night is Falling
- Tu Dors Nicole
- Miraculum
- Better Than Chocolate
- I am a good person / I am a bad person
- Cafe de Flore
- Polytechnique
- Lost and Delirious
- Love in the Sixth
If you have a favorite Canadian film that passes the Bechdel test that we didn't list, feel free to let us know in the comments section.
picture credit: Ginger Snaps film
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