Giuseppe Sulfaro stated in a interview that he had never seen a live naked woman and that Monica Bellucci was the first.
Giuseppe Sulfaro was actually naked in the sex scene between Renato and Lupeta the prostitute and no body double was used.
Monica Bellucci had to learn Sicilian for the role, a dialect that is noticeably different from her native Italian.
Highly censored in countries such as the USA and UK. The uncut Italian version is 108 minutes, while the UK and US version is cut to 92. More than 16% of its running time is cut.
Although Renato is 12 years old in the film, Giuseppe Sulfaro was 15 years old when the film was in production and he is 3 years older than his on-screen character.