postwar disillusionment

His films like 'The Apartment' and 'Sunset Boulevard' expose the moral compromises and empty ambitions lurking beneath postwar American prosperity.

His masterpieces including 'L'Avventura' and 'La Notte' capture the alienation and emotional void afflicting postwar European society through deliberate pacing and existential ennui.

Films like 'No Regrets for Our Youth' and 'Ikiru' confront the trauma of defeat and the struggle to find meaning and dignity in postwar Japan's societal collapse.