ancient ruins

His films obsessively document humanity's relationship with ancient civilizations and forgotten landscapes, from Aguirre to Fitzcarraldo.

His philosophical approach to cinema transforms ancient ruins and geological time into meditations on human existence and decay, evident in The New World and The Tree of Life.

He captured the grandeur and mystery of ancient ruins as epic backdrops in Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai, treating them as characters themselves.