When she saw the completed film, Ingmar Bergman's then wife Käbi Laretei said, "Yes, Ingmar, it's a masterpiece. But it's a dreary masterpiece."
When Tomas is talking to Märta after he was talking to Jonas about losing his faith, a drawing on the wall to the right of Märta's head can be seen depicting Death holding a chessboard - a reference to Ingmar Bergman's earlier film The Seventh Seal (1957).
A considerable amount of the scenes had to be reshot due to technical problems with sound and film stock.