A Paris court ruling prevented the movie from receiving State financial aid reserved to French movie production companies because it was produced by a company owned by Warner Bros., hence not a French company.
Disqualified to compete in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival because it has been shown outside its country of origin regardless of the fact that a Paris court ruled the movie to be too American.
Director Trademark: [Jean-Pierre Jeunet] [orphans] Mathilde, Manech, Célestin Poux
Jean-Pierre Jeunet originally wanted to cast Dominique Pinon as Germain Pire the private eye and Ticky Holgado as uncle Sylvain. However, Holgado had been diagnosed with cancer and the studio refused to insure him. Therefore, Jeunet decided to switch the actors and did not regret his decision afterward. As Holgado became more and more ill, he began to have trouble concentrating and remembering his lines. Jeunet prepared a rough cut of the movie for Holgado to see, but Ticky passed on before he could do so.
At the point where Mathilde is asked either by her uncle or her aunt about the fate of Manech, she responds that he might be held prisoner by the Germans, then he escaped and met a German woman with large breasts. This could either be a reference to La grande illusion (1937) or to La cuisine au beurre (1963).
Tina Lombardi's execution scene is directly inspired by the real film of the last public execution in France, Eugen Weidmann's in 1939.
The mournful tune that Mathilde plays on the tuba is "Aase's Death" from the Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet met Jodie Foster as she was supervising the dubbed version of Panic Room (2002). The main roles were already taken but Jodie Foster agreed to star in a little role, as Elodie Gordes. She speaks French fluently, so she acted with her own voice.
When casting Jodie Foster, Jean-Pierre Jeunet met her in Paris at the café which was used to shoot the scenes in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) which is near where he lives. Some tourists were at the café, knowing it was featured in the film, asked Jeunet and Foster to move out of the way (not recognizing them) so that they could take a photograph of the café.
When Mathilde interviews Tina Lombardi (played by Marion Cotillard) about the murders she committed, Tina responds, "Je ne regrette rien". This is also the title of a famous song by Édith Piaf, who was played by Marion Cotillard in La môme (2007) three years after this film.