disillusionment vs idealism

His revolutionary films grapple with the collision between utopian ideals and brutal historical reality, most powerfully in Battleship Potemkin and October.

His work consistently explores the betrayal of idealistic dreams by corruption and materialism, particularly in Salò and The Gospel According to St. Matthew.

The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate are elegies for lost American idealism, depicting how war and capitalism systematically destroy personal dreams and community bonds.