How Long Is “Life Without Principle”?

A handful of characters in Hong Kong find themselves caught up in the fallout of a global economic meltdown in this drama from director Johnnie To. Cheung Jin-fong (Richie Jen) is a police detective whose wife Connie (Myolie Wu) has her heart set on buying an expensive condominium; she's convinced it's a shrewd investment, but he's not so sure. Teresa (Denise Ho) works at a bank and has been ordered to boost her sales of investment products if she wants to keep her job, and she finds herself pitching risky financial schemes to people who are not in a position to lose their money. And after low-level mobsters Panther (Lau Ching-wan) and Lung (Philip Keung) lose a large sum of money in a loan sharking scheme gone wrong, their pal Yuen (Lo Hoi-pang) agrees to lend them $10 million, but a mishap at the band causes half the money to go missing, and the crooks are understandably eager to find it. These characters find their lives interacting in unexpected ways after an economic crisis in Greece causes the European markets to tumble, with Hong Kong's financial structure seemingly poised to follow. Duo Mingjin (aka Life Without Principle) received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.