Rose was named after Rosa Luxembourg, a Polish socialist activist who was murdered in 1919.
For research, director/co-writer Danièle Thompson suggested to Juliette Binoche that she study Shirley MacLaine's performance in Das Appartement (1960).
Danièle Thompson originally wrote this script in the early 1990s for Hollywood production and with the leading male character as an American. With her son, Christopher Thompson, she reworked the script into this version.
It is the second film directed by Danièle Thompson.