Life Without Principle
Johnnie To
The story: The paths of three cash-strapped characters cross: Bank officer Teresa (Denise Ho) feels the pressure at work as she tries to meet the sales target for a new, risky fund. Police inspector Cheung Jin Fong (Richie Jen) is under pressure from his wife to buy an apartment while thug Panther (Lau Ching Wan) needs a desperate gamble on the stock market to pay off.
Hong Kong director-producer Johnnie To’s latest film is a black comedy that reveals its true colours only towards the end. The first hour is, in fact, rather frustrating.
We are introduced to police inspector Cheung at a murder scene but the crime is largely a red herring. Then the movie cuts to Teresa’s story and there is a very long scene of her persuading a retiree to invest in a risky financial product.
Even though regulations have been tightened after high-profile fund failures, To pointedly notes that the less educated folk still get bamboozled by sweet-talking bank officers. While there is a touch of humour in the proceedings, there is simply too much unnecessary detail and repetition.
It is also a pity that Lau’s Panther turns up fairly late in the film. He lights up the screen in a vanity-free performance as the fiercely loyal triad hoodlum with a penchant for loud ugly shirts. The protagonists’ paths cross in unexpected ways and To uses flashbacks to reveal the hidden connections.
At the same time, there is a shift in the film’s tone as increasingly desperate and even ridiculous situations are handled in a deadpan matter.
The prolific To’s track record can be erratic but this – which was in the running for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival – is a definite improvement over his other offering this year, the massively irritating romantic comedy that was Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
And for once in a Hong Kong movie, the English title actually makes sense: It is also the name of an essay by American philosopher Henry David Thoreau on righteous living and the pernicious influence of money.
The film turns out to be a morality tale though it has no preachy black-and-white lessons to impart. And that is a good thing.
(ST)