Beijing Bicycle - Shiqi sui de dan che (2001)
Directed by Xiaoshuai Wang

The story behind Beijing Bicycle is simple : in a city where owning a bike defines both a life and a livelihood, two boys (one from a rural village, the other from a poor urban family) discover that they both lay claim to the same bicycle. The drama unfolds as one boy steals the bike from the other; violence escalates with the entry of gang members, friends and enemies, culminating in what can only be dubbed the most horrific bicycle beating ever seen on film. Eventually, the two agree on ways to share the common resource (perhaps as a metaphor for how urban denizens and rural migrants can compromise to maintain mutual benefits – and assuage common frustrations).

One particularly interesting scene depicts the newly assimilated country boys being marshaled by their new boss into their new role as bike-couriers:

“We’ve cleaned you up and cut your hair because we want to change your image; we want to help you country kids to fit in society…your image is our image; these bikes that we gave you are your livelihood…”

In this movie, the bicycle, as a literal symbol of “mobility” and “progress,” delivers more than a means of survival, the prospect of fortune or social acceptance; rather, it “delivers” identity, bestowing upon its owner the city’s privileges- along with the burdens of sustaining them.