disfigurement

His films like Eraserhead and The Elephant Man explore physical and psychological disfigurement as sources of profound human alienation and beauty.

Black Swan and The Wrestler examine how obsession and trauma disfigure the body and psyche, blurring the line between internal decay and external transformation.

His provocative works like Salò use bodily disfigurement and degradation as tools to critique fascism and social violence with unflinching visual language.