With a budget totaling 144 million Norwegian kroner (about US$21 million) this was the most expensive movie to date in Norway.
Co-star Gérard Depardieu brought 500 bottles of wine from his own farm and winery to the location in Kjerringøy (northern Norway) "to keep the spirits up", as he himself put it.
Norway's official submission to the 75th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.