Col cuore in gola was adapted from the paperback novel
Il sepolcro di carta (1955) by
Sergio Donati. Brass noted he was not very fond of the novel, and his producers wanted
Jean-Louis Trintignant as the lead. On meeting Trintignant, he told him a different story than that of the novel, which led him to accept the role. Brass then sent over the actual script, stating that he had changed his mind. The film's working title at this point was
Enigma. Brass did later change the plot, moving the story's location from Rome to London, noting that "London represented what Paris had represented before it: the place of transgression and freedom. Lots of things were happening.
The Beatles were only one of them. It was Europe's liveliest urban center." Brass expressed that he "wanted to make a film in ideograms - like in Chinese writing, where a symbol indicates a whole concept. So I did not film a horse, but an eye, or a spur. The characters seem two-dimensional, as in a comic." In 1966, director
Tinto Brass contacted
Guido Crepax to draw the
storyboards for the
Cuol cuore in gola. Crepax created color storyboards, even though he was used to working in black-and-white. For the cinematographer, Brass noted that his previous director of photography,
Bruno Barcarol, had died, and he needed a new one. Brass later chose
Silvano Ippoliti, as he reminded him a bit of Barcarol. The film was Brass' only
giallo film, and was influenced by the
pop art movement. This is seen in Trintignant's character's home, which is decorated with older popular Hollywood actors, and the use of
split screen matting to have a look similar to that of a comic strip. The film also switches between black-and-white and color, which Brass later explained was done out of necessity rather than any artistic statement, noting that some scenes required more light than the crew was able to provide, which led to scenes being filmed in black and white. ==Release==