François Truffaut decided to write the script of this movie when he saw Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant sit side-by-side at the Cesar's night.
The movie Bernard is talking about during the first meeting with Odile Jouve is Tod Browning's The Unknown (1927).
The line where Fanny Ardant says "You behave like you are a policeman and I'm a thief" is a reference to Alfred Hitchcock, who frequently used variations on this theme in his films.
In one of the scenes, there is a quick appearance of a man saying goodbye who is addressed as Jean-Luc. Which is probably a reference to Jean-Luc Godard, with whom François Truffaut had a long friendship that sadly ended after the newly released Day for Night (1973) was severely criticized by Godard.