desert setting

His epic films like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago use desert landscapes as transformative backdrops that shape character and narrative.

He defined the spaghetti western genre by using stark desert environments to create moral ambiguity and visual poetry in films like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

His film Zabriskie Point uses the Death Valley desert landscape to explore alienation, existential emptiness, and the clash between nature and human civilization.