The insomniac sea of the show's title is taken from Marguerite Duras» 1986 erotic novel Blue Eyes Black Hair: «The insomniac sea is there, quite close to the walls.
In fact, Huppert got «Elle» made, after bankable American stars (like Streep) wouldn't sign onto American screenwriter David Birke's kinky thriller, an adaptation of the eroticnovel by French author Philippe Dijan («Betty Blue»).