The Killing is playing on tv in the background of one scene. On the commentary for the dvd, the director Richard Linklater states that he was a fan of Sterling Hayden and the film contains a subtle tribute.
Richard Linklater's first film features a scene form Gertrud toward the end of the film. The main character watches it in a theater. Linklater says its use in the film is an homage to the scene in My Life to Live during which Anna Karina watches Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc.