According to director Freddie Wong, Hong Kong’s culture in the 21st century is not so different from that of the 1960s. Pop fiction and martial arts novels prevail over serious literature, and most of all, money is a priority above anything else. Mr. Lau, the protagonist drunkard in [The Drunkard], is a typical character in the center of these vulgar cultural phenomena. He is a pop fiction writer who indulges in woman and wine, and writes scripts upon request by film producers. However, his life and his times evoke romantic ideals different from today. Lau’s life revolves around relationships with women. They include Mary, the 17-year-old girl next door who brims with sexual curiosity; Lulu, a dance hall girl who only loves middle-aged men; Mrs. Wong, a landlady who lives apart from her husband; and Lily, a bar hostess who shares sincere conversations with Lau. Through Lau’s life, Freddie Wong seems to criticize the vulgar aspects of Hong Kong’s ’60s culture, but at the same time takes a double attitude toward it that longs for the romance in of the era. (KIM Ji-seok)