The film was an international co-production made by several companies based in France, Germany, Italy, with the additional participation of StudioCanal and the American company Miramax, and the support of Eurimages.

The film's original running time was 161 minutes in its premiere at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and in its French theatrical release. However, its American distributor, Miramax, asked the director to re-edit the movie to 145 minutes, and this version was the version seen in cinemas outside France and later on video. The full-length version was available for a limited period in the UK on VHS in a collectors' edition box set in 1995, but all further releases, including the DVD, have used the 145 minute cut.

The re-edited version not only removed scenes, it also added a scene between Margot and La Môle, in which they stand outdoors wrapped in a red cloak. The director had cut this scene from the original 'full-length' version. The scene was re-inserted because Miramax insisted that the relationship between the two characters be more substantial, as the romance was to become the focal point for the American marketing campaign. The 'red cloak' scene appears on the US DVD cover. In contrast the Region 2 European DVD cover uses the original poster, showing a shocked Margot bespattered with blood.

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