He reshaped his role to that of a less sympathetic one of a retired ex-pat salesman who tries to bolster his relationship with his young daughter by giving himself more importance. At Tavernier’s request, Bogarde also wrote a crucial scene for the film, which the director noted, was ‘wonderful... I think I only changed one line and we shot it. It was marvellous.’ (Phillips) Jane Birkin’s loving portrayal of the daughter was a perfect match on screen for Bogarde’s shirty, but needy dying father.

In an interview conducted at the Sydney Film Festival in 1999, Tavernier had these glowing words to say about his friend and collaborator: ‘Dirk Bogarde's contribution to Daddy Nostalgie was enormous. He was very literate, biting, but warm and funny and we got along very well during the shooting. I'd admired Dirk's work for many years and he mine... Bogarde was a very brave actor who wanted to experiment and worked to break his matinee star image. He fought to appear in The Servant and immediately agreed to work with someone who had been blacklisted. In a way he was like Michael Powell, someone who had no frontiers and was ready to work with anybody in the world. He disagreed with the attitude that sometimes prevailed in Britain, that British cinema should be an island onto itself. He always looked for serious and challenging work.’