hustle and survival

His films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull obsessively explore characters grinding through urban landscapes, battling inner demons while surviving brutal environments.

His social realist cinema unflinchingly documents working-class struggle and economic survival, showing how ordinary people hustle to maintain dignity amid systemic hardship.

His films like Shoplifters and Broker reveal how marginalized characters devise creative survival strategies and build unconventional family bonds while navigating precarious economic existence.