Life without Principle

Director: Johnnie To

Stars: Lau Ching-Wan, Richie Chen, Denise Ho, Myolie Wu and Terence Yin

Johnnie To brings us a slice of action but in the world of money.  Can you live your life without seeing this movie or will it all come down to your own principles.  Lets take a look.

The film focuses on 3 stories driven by money and the circumstances that will dictate the outcome of each of those people and the people around and their fates.

Firstly we have a Bank Clerk Teresa (Denise Ho) whose performance at work is under par and her job threatened she talks an elderly woman into ploughing her savings into a high risk investment.  Next up is the cop Cheung (Richie Chen) whose on a murder case but also investigating the death of a loan shark while his tries to get him to agree to buy a new home and she unwisely takes out a loan to make up the difference.  Lastly is Panther (Lau Ching-Wan) who as a goto for a gang needs to get his hands on some cash quick to get his fellow gangster released from custody.

What Johnnie To delivers is a sharp movie that looks at the way money controls our lives and makes us do or become what we are.  Its a word heavy film but all the messages are there to be read in-between the lines as well as those delivered.

I greatly enjoyed the movie and Johnnie To once again brings the triad world to the screen but not one of a controlling party but more of a submissive one as much effected by money as even a bank clerk.  Life Without Principle comes Highly recommended and not seeing Johnnie To's film would indeed be a life without having sampled  a Johnnie To Principle.