Writer/Director Benoît Jacquot first read André Gide's novel at 15 and had wanted to adapt it to the screen ever since he knew he wanted to be a director. He first tried to make a theatrical film out of it ten years prior to this film but was unable to find distributors interested in the project and to convince Gide's daughter Catherine. Eight years later he approached channel France 2 to adapt the book for television in two parts of 90 minutes each and received a greenlight, however for a single 2 hour TV movie instead.
Prior to this film, several other directors such as Luigi Comencini and Marc Allégret had tried getting an adaptation of André Gide's famous novel off the ground.
Filming lasted six weeks, about 50% longer than the typical French television film (with the film itself being about 25% longer).