The film was initially to be directed by Maurizio Lucidi. Among the crew was Luigi Cozzi, who was a friend of Alfieri and worked on the set as a consultant and during post-production. Cozzi stated that Caminito felt the film would be a bigger success with a larger budget and doubled the films budget and with a more "name" director. Caminito fired Lucidi who had only shot a few scenes without Kinski at the February 1986 Venice Carnival. Caminito hired director Pasquale Squitieri and assembled