irony and misfortune

His films masterfully expose how characters' desires and schemes collapse into tragic or darkly comedic ruin, epitomized by 'Sunset Boulevard' and 'The Apartment.'

He consistently explores how human efforts to control fate backfire catastrophically, as seen in 'Rashomon' and 'Ran,' where irony reveals the chaos beneath social order.

His films pit ordinary people against absurd circumstances where their own actions precipitate unforeseen disasters, making irony the engine of misfortune in works like 'No Country for Old Men.'