The film's opening dedication at the start of the film states: "For Sharon". Roman Polanski dedicated this movie to his late wife, Sharon Tate, who was killed in 1969 by the Manson Clan. Before Tate's death, she had read the film's source novel by Thomas Hardy and was convinced that her husband would one day make a great film based on the novel, with the hope that she would star in it. Movie was released to the theaters exactly 10 years after her untimely death.
Though this film is set in Dorset, England, it was actually filmed in France. Director Roman Polanski was wanted on sex-related charges in the United States and could have been extradited from the UK.
Rumor had it Roman Polanski and Nastassja Kinski were in a romantic relationship before filming. Kinski, who was under 18 at the time and Polanski was 42, has stated in interviews since then that she loved and admired him but they never had a relationship.
Final film directed by Roman Polanski for around seven years until his mid-80s swash-buckler pirate movie Pirates (1986).