determination and ambition

His films obsessively explore protagonists driven by relentless ambition and the psychological cost of their determination, from Travis Bickle to Henry Hill to Jordan Belfort.

He examines how determination and moral ambition collide with social constraints and personal ethics, creating profound moral dilemmas in ordinary lives.

His meticulous, ambitious filmmaking style mirrors characters driven by obsessive determination, exploring how ambition can corrupt and consume individuals in works like *The Social Network* and *Se7en*.