Pierre Bourgault is a prominent Quebec separatist, but is not allowed to say much in the film, which also features the muscular Fernand intimidated by a smaller English Canadian, and non-Quebecois music, concluding the film represented a "national identity crisis". Among the cosmopolitan music uses is Tibetan-style chanting, and songs by The Rolling Stones and Tom Waits. Film scholar Jim Leach wrote that in real life, Lauzon would call himself a Canadian director, despite contemporary belief Quebec cinema was distinct. In the narration, the setting "Mile End, Montreal, Canada" does not mention Quebec, and Léolo's supposed Italian father refers to the tomatoes as destined for "America" rather than Quebec, though they are sold in Montreal. It is also thought the film is set in the late 1950s, in the "old Quebec" before the Quiet Revolution. However, Lauzon denied the film had any political meaning, saying he was not an intellectual, and his film "does not have the flag draped all over it". He also said he had an admiration for the Italian people. Leach questioned if the film is set before the Quiet Revolution, saying if Léolo was born in the 1950s, the 12-year-old character lived in 1965, and Ducharme's book seen in the film was published in 1967. Marshall noted the Ducharme novel would place the story in the 1960s, but argued "otherwise the feel is 1950s". Production Development Director Jean-Claude Lauzon wrote the screenplay, starting it in Sicily while shooting his first film Night Zoo. It served in part as an autobiography, with Lauzon stating he wrote it "almost in a state of trance" and was initially unsure how the storyline would develop or end. Before completing high school and going on to study film in university, Lauzon stated he had lived on "the criminal fringes" of Montreal streets, and his dark perspective is found in Léolo. André Petrowski, a friend of Lauzon, also claimed the film depicted the "gross pathology" of the Lauzon family in a "very, very personal way". Although Lauzon had offers to shoot Hollywood action films after Night Zoo (1987), he instead presented the Léolo script to producer Lyse Lafontaine. Lafontaine stated the screenplay had been rejected by other producers and was difficult to read, but she found it "magic" and produced it with Aimée Danis. The film had a $5 million budget. Casting Singer Ginette Reno was cast as the mother after initially