One of the films (along with Henry, portrait d'un serial killer (1986) and Le Cuisinier, le voleur, sa femme et son amant (1989)) that was instrumental in bringing about the introduction of the NC-17 rating in the U.S., as the film's distributor, Miramax, took the MPAA to court over the X certification it had initially been designated. According to Pedro Almodóvar, the MPAA did not believe an R rating was appropriate, even after cuts, because they were afraid that the film would inspire young men to kidnap young women out of lust. Miramax argued that an X rating implicated pornography and would diminish the film's audience, but they lost the lawsuit and it was released unrated. In September 1990, the MPAA replaced the X rating with the then-newly created NC-17 rating in response to numerous appeals by other filmmakers who had released their films under similar circumstances in the past. Eventually, the film was re-rated NC-17 for its first two (of three) U.S. home video releases (it was re-released unrated the third time; see below), the reason being the explicit scene of a naked Marina taking a bath in her apartment and masturbating in the bathtub under the water with an activated swimming scuba diver wind-up toy.
The sex scene between Ricky (Antonio Banderas) and Marina (Victoria Abril) took nine takes to get right and about nine hours to film. Pedro Almodóvar chose to use the ninth and last take as, by that time, the two actors had worked themselves up into a sweat, making the scene appear to be even more authentic. Elia Kazan later remarked that he thought it was one of the best sex scenes in a film that he had ever witnessed.
Almost all of the scenes in this film are colored in various shades of red.
Pedro Almodóvar and the cast arrived at the film's Madrid premiere in a garbage truck that was decorated to look like a parade float.
Victoria Abril developed cold sores on her lips during the making of the film from having her mouth frequently gagged with adhesive tape.
Pedro Almodóvar: [red cars] The main characters of the film drive a red Volkswagen Golf Mk II, which features prominently in the plot.