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Il y a longtemps que je t'aime translates literally as It's a long time that I've loved you. The title is translated for the English-speaking market as I've Loved You So Long.

I've Loved You So Long is based on a screenplay by French professor and writer Philippe Claudel (who also directed this movie).

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime is a line in a traditional French folk song called À la Claire Fontaine. Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) play it on the piano together a bit over an hour into the film. The words in French are: "À la claire fontaine / M'en allant promener / J'ai trouvé l'eau si belle / Que je m'y suis baigné. Il y a longtemps que je t'aime / Jamais je ne t'oublierai." ["At the clear fountain / While I was strolling by / I found the water so nice / That I went in to bathe. So long I've been loving you / I will never forget you."] A complete rendition of the song can be obtained here. It's interesting to note that Juliette's full name in this movie is Juliette Fontaine.

The entire movie is in French. However, it is available on DVD with English dubbing and subtitles.

Early in the movie, it is revealed that Juliette has just been released from prison after serving 15 years for killing her six-year old son Pierre.

Not until the end of the movie is it revealed that her son Pierre was in much pain from a terminal illness. Juliette, a doctor herself, did the lab tests on her son, made the diagnosis, and knew that it was terminal. Consequently, she killed him by lethal injection. Since euthanasia is a felony in France, the courts found her guilty of murder.

The two featured paintings were done by French painter Émile Friant [1863 - 1932]. The first one is Le Doleur (Sorrow, translated as Pain in the movie). Le Doleur currently hangs in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, France. The second, smaller portrait is Jeune Nancéienne dans un paysage de neige (Young girl from Nancy in a landscape of snow).

The Orinoco is the third longest river in South America. Its source is in the highlands on the Brazil-Venezuela border. From there, it flows westward, then northward, then eastward, essentially circling the Guiana Highlands. Its mouth is on the Atlantic Ocean.

At that moment, Michel (Laurent Grévill) was already back at the house with Léa and friends, preparing for Juliette's surprise birthday party, as evidenced by the very next scene in which Juliette walks through the door into a dark house and is suddenly surprised by the large group of family and friends wanting to celebrate her birthday with her.

While making her bed before leaving for work, Juliette inadvertently drops some papers on the floor that are later found by little Emelia (Lily-Rose), who gives them to Léa. There is a photo of Juliette's son, a poem written by him, and a copy of some medical laboratory results. Léa takes them to Dr Samir (Mouss Zouheyri) for interpretation. Samir confers with some specialists and relays the diagnosis back to Léa via telephone (the actual diagnosis is not revealed but the look on Léa's face shows that it is devastating). Realizing now for the first time the reason that Juliette killed her son, Léa angrily confronts her sister. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you!" Juliette's reply basically explains that they could have done nothing, that Pierre was dying, and that it was her decision alone to terminate the painful and hopeless life of the child that she was responsible for creating. Consequently, she took Pierre away (the courts called it "kidnapping") and gave him a lethal injection. The sisters then embrace each other. In the final scene, Michel comes into the house and calls out, "Is anybody home?" Juliette replies, "I'm here".

This is probably the most frequently asked question about the movie. It seems unbelievable that her son was so ill that he was screaming in pain, choking, his limbs writhing, and becoming progressively paralyzed, yet no one knew about it. The movie does not address this seeming enigma, so there are three possible explanations. (1) Juliette recognized the illness from the beginning, knew that the outcome would render him a "little corpse" (as she put it), and made the decision to end Pierre's life while he was in the early- or mid-stages, (2) Juliette's husband and family did know that Pierre was ill but only Juliette knew the true diagnosis, having done the lab tests herself in secret, or (3) since no time frame was given, Juliette "kidnapped" her son while the illness was in its mild stages and hid with him for weeks, maybe even months, until the illness had progressed in severity. At any rate, even if the family knew, Léa was all of eight years old at the time and was undoubtedly spared the details, which accounts for why Léa was clueless about the whole situation.

During the court proceedings, Juliette remained silent about her reasons for killing Pierre. During the 15 years she spent in jail, she maintained her silence. Even after being released from prison, she refused to discuss the issue. Juliette finally explains her silence to Léa thusly: "Nothing mattered anymore. I wanted to go to prison. Either way, I was guilty. I'd given birth to him and condemned him to die. And I had nothing to say. Explain? Explain what? To whom? Explaining is looking for excuses. Death has no excuses. The worst prison is the death of one's child. You never get out of it."

It's been said that the author of the book, Philippe Claudel, based Pierre's illness on adrenoleukodystrophy, a genetically-linked condition that prevents the breakdown of long chains of fatty acids, leading to breakdown of the sheaths of myelin that line certain nerve cells. The symptoms of the disease are progressive cognitive and behavioral impairment, swallowing difficulties, motor dysfunctions, and seizures.

The title of the song is Dis quand reviendras-tu? (When will you return?). It was written by French singer Barbara (real name: Monique Serf) [1930-1997]. The song is performed in the movie by Jean-Louis Aubert.