Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Johnnie To Essentials

Life Without Principle

1h 46m

Directed by Johnnie To • 2011 • Hong Kong
Starring Sean Lau Ching-wan, Richie Jen, Myolie Wu

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the 2008 banking crisis, this gripping, intricately constructed portrait of capitalism’s corruption of the soul follows three people—a police officer (Richie Jen), a bank employee (Denise Ho), and a low-level gangster (Sean Lau Ching-wan)—caught up in the fallout of the financial meltdown. Now, in desperation, they each must set aside their morals in order to survive. Masterfully interweaving the story’s multiple strands, director Johnnie To conjures a tense, darkly ironic vision of a world ruled by greed.

Up Next in Johnnie To Essentials

  • Throw Down
    1:36:11
    Throw Down

    Throw Down

    Directed by Johnnie To • 2004 • Hong Kong
    Starring Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, Cherrie Ying

    One of the most personal films by the prolific Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To is a thrilling love letter to both the cinema of Akira Kurosawa and the art and philosophy of judo. Amid the neon-drenched nightclubs ...

  • Three
    1:28:19
    Three

    Three

    Directed by Johnnie To • 2016 • Hong Kong, China
    Starring Zhao Wei, Louis Koo, Wallace Chung

    When three disparate souls—a doctor desperate to redeem her reputation (Zhao Wei), a policeman who will go to any length to seek justice (Louis Koo), and a criminal with a gunshot wound to the head (Wall...

  • Blind Detective
    2:09:44
    Blind Detective

    Blind Detective

    Directed by Johnnie To • 2013 • Hong Kong, China
    Starring Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng, Guo Tao

    Director Johnnie To blends his signature mastery of the crime drama with freewheeling comedy and whirlwind romance for this madcap screwball procedural, bolstered by the chemistry and charisma of superstars ...

×