In the bar scene there is a portrait photo of Matti Pellonpää on the wall. He played in numerous Kaurismäki films before his sudden death in 1995.
Matti Wuori, who plays the lawyer sent by the Salvation Army to represent M, was in real life a well-known lawyer who specialized in human-rights issues. As they part in front of the police station, he gives M a cigar. Wuori was famously a connoisseur of Cuban cigars.
This film won the London Evening Standard's "Palm Dog" award at the Cannes Film Festival for the best animal role. The winning dog's name, aptly, is Tähti ("Star" in Finnish).
Chosen by "Telerama" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 (#01, tied with "Hable con ella")