François Truffaut's final film and a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Truffaut was an expert on Hitchcock and a great admirer of his work throughout his career.
Literary references are to Victor Hugo's play "Le roi s'amuse" that is played by an amateur group and to Philip K. Dick's "The Golden Man", a French translation of which is seen lying in the room where Marie-Christine's dead body is found by Julien Vercel.
Patrick Dewaere was the first choice to play Julien Vercel, before he committed suicide, and was replaced by Jean-Louis Trintignant. (source: Journal Tarkovsky)