villainy

His films deeply explore moral corruption and the psychology of criminal protagonists through intimate character studies like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.

He examines villainy through the lens of human nature and circumstance, particularly in Rashomon and Ran, where good and evil are morally ambiguous.

His meticulous filmmaking dissects cunning, manipulative villains and explores the darkness within everyday people in works like Se7en and Gone Girl.