The film was seen as a return by director Claude Miller to the material of his first feature, La meilleure façon de marcher (1976).
Claude Miller cast Charlotte Gainsbourg after seeing her in her first film, Paroles et musique (1984). He approached her parents, English actress Jane Birkin and French singer, songwriter and filmmaker Serge Gainsbourg, for permission to cast her. It helped the marketability of the movie because, as Miller says, "Charlotte was in a way already a star because of her parents. People went to see her out of curiosity."
Was the 11th most successful film of the year at the French box office.
Director Claude Miller revealed that there was supposed to be a masturbation scene in the film. Although the scene was indeed shot, Miller later censored himself and removed it from the final cut. "When Charlotte (played by 13-year-old Charlotte Gainsbourg) picked out some things to go to Clara's, she saw herself naked in the mirror of her room and disappeared behind an armchair. We could see her legs sticking out, I thought this would make it clear that she was masturbating. It was in the script, and we shot it. I wasn't feeling very confident. When I talked about this scene with Charlotte when we met, I asked her: 'Page x, does it bother you?' We never used the word 'masturbation'. She answered me, I remember it very well: 'If dad agrees, I will do what is written in the script.' I don't think I ever asked Serge to read this page specifically. We shot the scene where she went in her chair and swung her leg, obviously, she wasn't doing anything else. The fact remains that I did not edit this scene. For what? I don't know. Did the scene not work, or did I chicken out? The most likely explanation is that the scene was not explicit enough. I hadn't filmed it frontally enough." Miller said.