The verses Lila (Dame Maggie Smith) twice repeats aloud to herself, beginning "How beautifully blue the sky", are from the lyrics of the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Included among the American Film Institute's 2002 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 top 100 America's Greatest Love Stories movies.
Release of this film was delayed until almost two years after its filming.