Christopher Plummer 's longtime manager and one of the film 's lead producers , Lou Pitt , was recommended Alan Judd 's novel '' The Kaiser 's Last Kiss '' . Pitt said , " The first time I heard about the novel was from Chris who liked the character and setting quite a lot as did I after reading it ... this would have been around 2005 or 2006 . At the time , the book was under option , but for good reason , we kept an eye on it . ” On 21 May 2014 , Egoli Tossell Film and its parent company Film House Germany revealed that a film adaptation of Judd 's novel was in development . At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival , Lotus Entertainment handled international sales for the film , previously titled '' The Kaiser 's Last Kiss ''
2015 Cannes Film Festival
2015 Cannes Film Festival
The Exception