A film projectionist in Hamburg was beaten unconscious while screening this film and a theater in Frankfurt was besieged by youths attempting to use acid to destroy the print.
The film shown on the TV during the opening sequence is Robert Bresson's The Devil, Probably (1977). Rainer Werner Fassbinder was a big fan of the movie, and voted for it at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival, where the film was given a Special Jury Prize.