Charlotte Rampling's character Sarah is named after her sister, who killed herself at age 23. She told The Guardian, "I thought that after such a very long time of not letting her be with me that I would like to bring her back into my life."
Ludivine Sagnier eventually "got used" to seeing her own bikini-clad figure in the poster, which was "on every bus for weeks" in Paris when the film was released. Sagnier however mentioned she had trouble watching herself in the film: "There are many moments where I hide my eyes. All the sexual stuff. I can't stand it".
Charlotte Rampling and Frances Cuka previously appeared together as wives of Henry VIII: Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon respectively, in the movie of the same name.
The character Sarah Morton writes her novel in a Samsung portable computer.
Italian censorship visa # 97500 delivered on 23 October 2003.