This was the ninth and final film directed by Kenneth Branagh in which Richard Briers stars. The others are Henry V (1989), Peter's Friends (1992), Swan Song (1992), Beaucoup de bruit pour rien (1993), Frankenstein (1994), Au beau milieu de l'hiver (1995), Hamlet (1996) and Peines d'amour perdues (2000).
Filmed in Wakehurst Place, a botanical expert from Kew Gardens was on hand in order to check the ground to ensure endangered plants were not damaged during filming. Cast and crew literally were told where they could and couldn't step when off footpaths.
This movie has received a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actors Guild nomination in the "Made-for-TV" category, even though it was not actually made for television. It was released to theaters abroad before premiering on HBO in the U.S. (The end credits feature a "Dolby Stereo in Selected Theaters" credit.)
Originally announced as a Picturehouse Entertainment release, this movie was then picked up by HBO.
Prologue: "In the latter part of the 19th century, Japan opened up for trade with the West. Merchant adventurers arrived from all over the world, many of them English. Some traded in silk and rice and lived in enclaves around the 'treaty ports.' They brought their families and their followers and created private mini-empires where they tried to embrace this extraordinary culture its, its beauties and its dangers..."
Kenneth Branagh: The director has a brief cameo in the epilogue, which breaks the fourth wall. He follows Bryce Dallas Howard with his camera and can be heard saying, "And...cut!"