 Harris added the way Rémi also identifies himself as "le pianist" fits Blier's tendency to identify characters in flat ways, creating expectations from the audience.Writer and director Bertrand Blier declared "Beau Pere" was intended as "an ode to the fair sex and to womanhood in its purest form".Like Blier's earlier film "Going Places" (1974), he based it on a novel he had written, also titled "Beau-père".