riding a bicycle

His masterpiece 'Bicycle Thieves' (1948) uses a stolen bicycle as the central metaphor for poverty, dignity, and social inequality in post-war Italy.

Frequently employed bicycles as symbols of freedom and mobility in films like 'Contempt' and used cycling imagery to explore modern alienation and movement through urban spaces.

His films often feature bicycles as emblems of class struggle and personal agency, most notably in 'Parasite' where a bicycle represents economic precarity and social aspiration.