personal ambition

His films obsessively explore the corrupting nature of personal ambition, from the gangster's rise in Goodfellas to the trader's obsession in The Wolf of Wall Street.

He creates visceral psychological portraits of individuals consumed by their ambitions, whether artistic perfection in Black Swan or intellectual achievement in The Fountain.

His masterpieces like Rashomon and Ran dissect how ambition corrupts moral judgment and reveals the tragic consequences of human pride and desire for power.