His films, particularly Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, explore inherited responsibility, tradition, and the weight of family legacy across generations.

His filmography, especially The Irishman and Goodfellas, deeply examines family bonds, patriarchal power, and the destructive consequences of inheriting criminal enterprise legacies.

His works like The Leopard and Rocco and His Brothers portray the decline of aristocratic family empires and the tension between preserving legacy and adapting to social change.