''For Lovers Only'' is a 2011

romance film Romance films 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. Typically their ...

produced by the

Polish brothers Mark Polish and Michael Polish (born October 30, 1970), known informally as the Polish brothers, are American twin filmmakers. Michael usually directs their films, and Mark often has an acting role. Early lives The Polish brothers were born in ...

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 a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and former model, while Polish plays Yves, a former fashion photographer. Sofia chances upon Yves, her 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 critical ...

's '' A Man and a Woman'' and the

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

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 (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

to St. Tropez. 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. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' '' 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, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

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 to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

film. The film released as

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

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 ...

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

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

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and

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. The film was shot using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 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 daylight. ...

ing in any scenes, except for a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

scene, where Michael's

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

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 does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

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 m ...

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

Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...

'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. It is the first film by Warner Independent Picture ...

'' and Katic mentioned that she studied several

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

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 ''

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'' {{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 English-language romantic drama films