An homage? SPOILER!

Splendid film, great performances and good locations. Well worth the price of admission, even though I saw it on TV last night.

Now, the possible homage:

In one scene where Valentin (with a brain tumour) dreams about repaying a Bulgari jewellery store in London, the dream fades from colour to B&W. If one has seen A Matter of Life & Death, starring David Niven as a wounded pilot with a brain injury, one will recall that his "dream" sequences are in B&W.

There, that's it. Earth-shattering observation it is not, but too bad.