''For Lovers Only'' is a 2011

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

produced by the

Polish brothers Mark Polish and Michael Polish (born October 30, 1970), known informally as the Polish brothers, are American twin screenwriters and film producers. Michael usually directs their films, and Mark often has an acting role. Life The Polish brothe ...

and Sean O'Grady. The brothers also had different roles in the film, with Michael as director and Mark as writer and also actor himself. The film also stars Stana Katic. It was expected to be released in theaters in the United States in June 2011, but eventually adopted an online distribution strategy.

Plot

In the film, Katic plays Sofia, a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and former model, while Polish plays Yves, a former fashion photographer. Sofia chances upon Yves, a former lover, while on assignment. The story draws upon

Claude Lelouch Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish Family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critica ...

's ''

A Man and a Woman ''A Man and a Woman'' (french: Un homme et une femme) is a 1966 French film written and directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Written by Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, the film concerns a young widow ...

'' and the

French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

for inspiration and focuses on the couple's flight from Paris via a variety of forms of transportation: train, car and motorcycle. Their travels extend from

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

St. Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Alp ...

. Mark Polish notes that the film lies somewhere between ''A Man and a Woman'' and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' '' A Hard Day's Night''. The film, which was shot in Paris and various locations throughout France, premiered for industry guests in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

on September 29, 2010.

Production

For Lovers Only was scored by Kubilai Uner. It is a

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

film. The film released as

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

In Demand In Demand (stylized as iN DEMAND) is an American cable television service which provides video on demand services, including pay-per-view. Comcast, Cox Communications, and Charter Communications (with former independent companies Time Warner Cab ...

in June. On Monday July 11, it ranked number 2 on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

romance movies chart, number 4 on the iTunes independent films chart and was among the Top 100 in all movie rental and downloads. Using what is being described as a direct-to-iTunes strategy, it was atop the iTunes romance films for two weeks and in the top ten for four. After topping $500,000 in earnings through digital sales, the movie is expected to appear in United States theaters in the fall 2011. The film, which was shot over a period of 12 days from a

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of ha ...

that was more than a decade old, was promoted without an advertising budget via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

. The film was shot using a

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

, which is a digital still photography camera, with video capability. Because of its traditional still photography appearance, they were able to film without attracting attention in public places. They did not use any

artificial light Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylig ...

ing in any scenes, except for a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

scene, where Michael's iPhone provided the lighting. The film was scored by friend Kubilay Uner. The film was classified as an

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

by the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to me ...

, which meant the Polish brothers did not have to pay Katic, who used her own wardrobe.

Film festival showings

The film had its world premiere at the May 29 – June 5, 2011

Film Festival Zlín A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

on opening night. One Zlin Festival critic compared the film to

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies ' ...

's ''

Before Sunset ''Before Sunset'' is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, from a story by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The sequel to ''Before Sunrise'' (1995) and the seco ...

'' and Katic mentioned that she studied several

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more th ...

works to prepare for her role. On August 7, 2011 the film was shown at the Transatlantyk Poznan International Film & Music Festival in Poland. It was also scheduled for the 2011 Oldenburg Film Festival. The film won the Bronze prize for Drama Feature Film at the September 13–15 Trinidad Independent Film Festival.

References

External links

*
credits
at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:For Lovers Only 2011 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Films set in France Films shot in France 2011 films Films directed by Michael Polish 2010s English-language films 2010s American films