How Wong Kar-wai’s ‘In the Mood for Love’ rewrote the story for one literary agent
For Marysia Juszczakiewicz, the Hong Kong filmmaker’s moody classic has stood the test of time with its touching, intense storyline and international appeal
A typically fragmented, moody, visually ravishing Wong Kar-wai production, In the Mood for Love (2000) stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung Man-yuk as neighbours in a Shanghainese community in Hong Kong in 1962. The pair form an intense bond when they suspect their partners, both unseen throughout the film, of having an affair.
Marysia Juszczakiewicz, founder of the Peony Literary Agency, which represents authors including Su Tong, Han Han and Chan Koonchung, explains how the film changed her life.
I watched In the Mood for Love when it came out; I had just started living in Hong Kong and wasn’t running a literary agency yet – I’d worked in book publishing in the UK – but the film made me think it could be a good idea. I wanted to represent Chinese writers and help them tell their stories. The film also resonated because we were living in a tiny flat in the middle of Hong Kong and still trying to get a sense of the city.
In the Mood for Love got me thinking because it has so many elements that appealed internationally. It has a global reach, which is something you’re looking for as a publisher. Like I try to do now with my literary agency. And it’s more accessible than most Asian films because so much of the story takes place visually.