This movie was selected to screen at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" strand.
Comeback movie for Julie Christie whose lead performance represented a return to making movies after a three-year hiatus. Christie's previous movie had been Heaven Can Wait (1978).
This movie was released seven years after its source novel of the same name by Doris Lessing was published.
The character of Emily Mary Cartwright (Leonie Mellinger) was based on Emily Diski according to her. Diski lived with source author Doris Lessing for several years when she was an adolescent.