Trivia

This is the first American film to be certified by Dogme '95.

Over the course of this 25-day shoot, Harmony Korine amassed 86 hours of footage, which then had to be cut down by his editor into the final 101-minute film. The first cut, however, was 6-1/2 hours long.

The character of Julien is based on Harmony Korine's schizophrenic uncle, Eddie (brother of his father). During preparation for the film, Korine had Ewen Bremner meet his uncle and later listen to audiotapes of him to gain insight into the role.

After completing a Dogme 95 film, directors must write a confession to their fellow members, explaining the ways in which they have broken the Dogme "Vow of Chastity." In his Confession for this film, Harmony Korine wrote that Chloë Sevigny is not really pregnant in the film; she's wearing a pillow.

The film was shot from a 124-scene treatment of sorts; essentially only general descriptions of scenes ("The sound of hard wind," is all it says for Scene 8. In Scene 58, "Julien's brother tries again in vain to kill the swan."). All the dialogue was improvised by the actors, except for one scene where Julien is talking to his "dead mother" on the telephone.