hedonism vs. redemption

His films obsessively pit sensual excess and bodily desire against spiritual yearning and moral transcendence, most starkly in 'Salò' and 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew.'

He relentlessly explores the collision between human suffering, carnal impulse, and the possibility of grace or damnation across works like 'Breaking the Waves' and 'Nymphomaniac.'

His filmography is defined by protagonists caught between violent hedonism and spiritual salvation, from 'Taxi Driver' to 'The Wolf of Wall Street' to 'Silence.'