The image of Justine floating down the stream with her bouquet was inspired by John Everett Millais' 1852 painting "Ophelia."
Kirsten Dunst was offered the lead role after a Skype session with writer and director Lars von Trier on Paul Thomas Anderson's recommendation.
The advertisement for which Justine is supposed to come up with a tagline is based on an oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder titled "The Land of Cockaigne", an unflattering portrayal of excess and spiritual emptiness in a mythical land of plenty.
Writer and director Lars von Trier admitted to having written the script under heavy influence of alcohol and drugs. But he's said that about many of his films.
The painting seen in the prologue is Pieter Breughel's Hunters in the Snow (1565). This painting also prominently featured in Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972). Lars von Trier often stated Tarkovsky greatly inspires him. He even dedicated Antichrist (2009) to the Russian director.