What effect did Greece’s economic crisis have on a Hong Kong gangster? How did the lives of a loan shark, a bank teller, a policeman and a gangster become intertwined? Few directors could make a story like this come alive. Director Johnnie To’s [Life Without Principle] illustrates how easily people are ruined because of money, whether they are our next door neighbors or criminals: good-for-nothing thug Panther and his friend Yiu-Wah try everything they can think of to wrangle bail money; performance-driven bank teller Teresa finds herself in trouble for giving loan shark Yuen cash without a receipt; Lung is faced with mortal danger after losing a gang’s black money playing stocks. Even on the brink of self-destruction, none realizes they have become slaves to the dollar. In a dramatic highlight, while dying inside a car, Lung is still listening to stock market news while beside him Panther ignores his friend as his life slips away. Though the movie has almost no violence, the message that humanity in modern society is disappearing is chillingly clear. (KIM Ji-seok)