The screenplay was co-written by François Ozon together with Emmanuèle Bernheim, Marina de Van and Marcia Romano.

Principal photography took place over one month, from 15 March to 15 April 2000, with locations in Paris and in the Landes department, including Lit-et-Mixe, Mimizan-Plage beach and Saint-Julien-en-Born.

The film uses two different cinematographers for its two contrasting parts: Antoine Héberlé shot the summer sequences while Jeanne Lapoirie shot the winter sequences.

The score by Philippe Rombi is built around a recurring leitmotif combining a song by Barbara and the track 'Undenied' by Portishead.

Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman admired the film and claimed he watched it several times.

The film holds a 93% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 86/100 on Metacritic, indicating 'universal acclaim'.

A. O. Scott of The New York Times named it a Critic's Pick, and Variety's Derek Elley called Charlotte Rampling's performance her 'career-best'.

The film received three César Award nominations in 2002, for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress (Charlotte Rampling), and was also nominated for the Golden Shell at the 2000 San Sebastián Film Festival.