The name of Zoë Lund's character, Thana, is reminiscent of the Greek god of death, "Thanatos." Sigmund Freud used the word to refer to the "death drive," a subject's internal drive to return to an inorganic state.
The scene on the crowded street with Thana and the Photographer was filmed from a camera placed atop a parked van on Fifth Avenue that was manned by Abel Ferrara and covered with a tarp. The man and woman seen walking behind Thana and the Photographer are the female boom operator and a male crewman. The woman is clearly holding onto the man in a certain odd way to hide the microphone under the man's jacket to record the Photographer's speaking dialogue.
In the scene where Thana leaves with her neighbor's dog, a red truck is seen circulating on the street, on whose front the name Ferrara is written.
Inspired the song "Ms. 45" by American rock band L7.