: The title is widely considered a reference to the 19th-century French realist painter Gustave Courbet, whose work often challenged contemporary social and artistic conventions regarding the human figure. Production and Recognition
: The film was co-written by Brass, Piero Fontana, and Caterina Varzi, the latter of whom became a frequent collaborator and muse in his later years.
Characters are driven by their deep-seated desires rather than conventional plot points.