In 1996, Dutch television producer Wim Kayzer contacted director Alex Cox and said he was looking for a project that fit the themes of "beauty and consolation".
The scenes set in the desert were initially planned to be shot in Mexico, but Cox wanted to keep costs down by not traveling to a third continent; he also cited the Biblical look of Almería.
Kayzer wanted the international premiere on Dutch television station VPRO, where he worked, and urged Cox to decline a spot at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
Writing for Variety, Oliver Jones called it "a dramatically turgid concept piece" that nonetheless has a satisfying ending and good acting from Cox.
[9] In Screening Early Modern Drama: Beyond Shakespeare, academic Pascale Aebischer described it as a critique of consumerism that was influenced by the Latin American film movement Third Cinema.